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FROM TENT TO WHITE HOUSE 



From Tent to White House 



OR 



How a Poor Boy Became President 



BT 

EDWARD Si^ELLIS 

AUTHOR OF 

"PERILS OF THE JUNGLE," "THE WHITE MUSTANG," 
"GOLDEN ROCK," ETC. 






^3r^ ^fiF^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 



New York 

THE FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY 

Publishers 



lm[^ 



Ck??7rigi»t, 1858. 1899 sn<5 «90i, 
By STREET & SMITH 



By 1 ranster 
D. C. Public Libraiy 
OCT 1 5 1934 



Em 

. E4-73 



CTAmW^LZT^^ 



I^ P^ E P^ -A. O E . 



Surveying the whole list of our Presidents, it is im- 
possible to find a more perfect type of American manhood 
than William McKinley. Born in a little cottage in a 
small town in Ohio, feeling the pressure of hard times, if 
not the pinch of poverty, the sturdy boy, endowed by na- 
h ture and birth with a stout heart and a wise head, worked 
u his way upward inch by inch until by grit he reached the 
top, and from the uppermost round of the ladder stepped 
into the sky. 
Lj We are yet too nea'* to the third of our martyred 
^ Presidents to be able to estimate him at his full value, or 
to give him his rightful place among the world's leaders ; 
but in the years to come it is certain that the name of 
zz, William McKinley will shine far up among the greatest 
— names in history. His life was not a meteoric flash, but a 
-< star, clear shining and constant — a white radiance that 
c/: never grew dim. Strength of manhood, consistency of 
m life, beauty of soul, splendid honesty of administration, 
CJ and a wise vision that almost amounted to foreknowledge 
^ — these were the things that raised him head and shoul- 
^ ders above his fellows and made him great. 

It is strange that such a man as this should be singled 
out as the victim of a traitorous Anarchist; strange, in- 
deed, that so horrible a crime should be possible in these 
days of enlightenment. It is an open question whether 



8 PREFACE. 

the material advances of which we are wont to boast have 
touched the human heart. Witness the roll of our mar- 
tyred Presidents. 

President Lincoln, a great and good man, was assas- 
sinated in April, 1865, one month and ten days after his 
inauguration for a second term. The President attended a 
Cabinet conference on the afternoon of the fourteenth of 
April, and in the evening, accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln 
and two friends, Miss Harris, a daughter of Senator Har- 
ris, of New York, and Major Henry Rathbone, went to 
the performance of "Our American Cousin," at Ford's 
Theatre, Washington. In the midst of the play a shot 
was heard, and a man who later proved to be John Wilkes 
Booth, an actor, was seen to leap to the stage from the 
President's box. Brandishing a dripping knife, with 
which, after shooting the President, he had stabbed Ma- 
jor Rathbone, and shouting ''Sic semper tyrannis! — the 
South is avenged !" he made his escape by a rear door of 
the stage, mounted a horse and rode away. 

James A. Garfield, a m^ijt ot sterling integrity, inau- 
gurated President on'"March''4,' 'i'88i, "died on September 
19, 188 1. He was shot by Charles Guiteau on July 2 of 
that year. President Garfield was starting on a trip to 
New England. He was passing through the waiting- 
room of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in 
Washington when he was shot. The assassin, who was 
a disappointed office seeker, shot twice, the first bullet 
passing through the President's coat sleeve. The second 
bullet entered the back and lodged deep in the body. 

And finally President McKinley, whose kindliness of 
heart was proverbial, was shot down while holding a re- 
ception in the Temple of Music at the Buffalo Exposition 
in Septem'ber, 1901. The assassin was Leon Czolgosz, 
an avowed Anarchist, whose only statement after the 



PREFACE. 9 

dastardly deed was, "I have done my duty as an 
Anarchist." 

We can ill afford to lose such men as these, and some- 
thing must be done to lessen the danger from the traitor's 
pistol. It is difficult to so set the bounds of civil liberty 
as to give the utmost freedom to the citizen and at the 
same time secure the safety of the Chief Magistratej but 
one result of this latest crime must be that stringent 
measures shall be taken by the great governments of the 
world to render the cowardly, malignant assassination of 
a nation's ruler impossible in 'the future. 

But not all the Anarchists on earth can erase the mem- 
ory of McKinley. His name will endure as long as gov- 
ernment by the people and for the people exists. All 
honor to the heroic dead. May his spirit lead us into 
higher living and nobler self-sacrifice for the common 
good. 

Tom' Taylor's lines in London Punch were often quoted 
by him in eulogy of a dead friend ; but surely to no one 
were the lines more applicable than to William McKinley 
himself : 

He went about his work, such work as few 

Ever had laid on head, and heart, and hand, 

As one who knows where there's a task to do. 

Man's honest will must Heaven's good grace command. 

Who trusts the strength will with the burden grow, 

For God makes instruments to work His will 

If but that will we can arrive to know, 

Nor tamper with the weights of good and ill. 



CONTENTS. 



I— Birth of William McKinley . . .11 

II— McKinley Enlists as a Private . . 19 

III— A Brave and Thoughtful Act . . 29 

IV— A Daring Exploit .... 39 

V — Admission to the Bar . * . .49 

VI— Lawyer McKinley's First Case . . 59 

VII — "Gerrymandering" . . . .69 

VIII— The McKinley Bill .... 79 

IX — Organization of the Government . . 89 

X — The Preliminary Campaign . . 99 

XI— In the White House . . . .109 

XII— Cuba's Early History . . .119 

XIII— McKinley's Trying Position . . .129 

XIV — Prompt Action of Congress . . 139 

XV— Spain's Defiant Action . . , .148 

XVI— Military and Naval Terms . . 156 

XVII — Capacities of the American Nation . 163 

XVIII— The President's Nominations , . 170 

XIX— The Exploit of Lieutenant Hobson . 178 

XX— The Surrender of Santiago . , 186 



ii CONTENTS. 

XXI — President McKinley's Second Term . 196 

XXII — The Assassination of the President . 201 

XXIII— Bulletins from the Deathbed . . .208 

XXIV— The President's Last Words . . 217 

XXV— Borne to the Capital . . . .221 

XXVI— "All the World at His Funeral '' . 227 

XXVII— The Doom of the Assassin . . . 232 

XXVIII— William McKinley's Predecessors . 237 



THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH OF WILUAM MCKINLEY — THE m'kINL^YS OF A BY- 
GONE AGE — WHAT THE SCOTCH-IRISH HAVE DONE — 
BOYHOOD OF WILLIAM m'kiNLEY — THE YOUNG STU- 
DENT EVE OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR THE BOMBARD- 
MENT OF FORT SUMTE;r — ITS EFFECT IN THE NORTH 
AND SOUTH — YOUNG m'kINLEY^S PATRIOTISM. 

The people of Perthshire tell the story of how, when 
Charles II. was king, and Sharp, the apostate, was spill- 
ing" the best blood in Scotland in the interests of the 
Laudian persecution, a little family bearing the forever- 
to-be-honored name of McKinley packed their few be- 
longings and embarked on a frigate for Ireland. Land- 
ing somewhere near the Giant's Causeway, they jour- 
neyed a few miles southward and took up residence in an 
old stone cottage near Dervock, County Antrim. But 
Ireland was hardly more peaceful than Scotland, and it 
would seem that at least one member of the family was 
tried by drumhead court-martial for storing arms for 
the use of the United Irishmen, and was sentenced to 
death. Coleraine records show that in that town one 
William McKinley, of County Antrim, was so sentenced 
in the year 1798. Whether this could have been the 
grand-uncle of President McKinley, as some biographers 



12 BIRTH OF WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 

assert, it is impossible to say beyond peradventure, but 
certain it is that shortly after this the McKinley family 
crossed the Atlantic and settled, part in Pennsylvania and 
part in the Southern States. When the time came for the 
decisive blow for American independence, the McKin- 
leys, with their Scotch-Irish brothers, were the first to 
take up arms in the struggle for liberty. 

"We shall find," wrote George Bancroft, the historian, 
"that the first voice publicly raised in America to dissolve 
all connection with Great Britain came, not from the 
Puritans of New Enigland, not the Dutch of New York, 
nor from the planters of Virginia, bnt from the Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians. 

From such a stock sprang the martyred McKinley. 
His father was born on the Dougherty Farm, Wolf Creek 
Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, November 15, 
1807, and in his twenty-second year married Nancy Alli- 
son, the following children being born to them: David 
Allison McKinley, Annie McKinley, James McKinley, 
Mary McKinley, Helen Minerva McKinley, Sara Eliza- 
beth McKinley, William McKinley (born January 29, 
1843), Abigail Celia McKinley and Abner McKinley. 

Nancy McKinley was all that a good woman should be. 
A friend, writing of her in later years, says: "I recall 
her quiet dignity of manner. She had that blending of 
sweetness and strength of will and purpose that has been 
a rich inheritance to her children." 

William McKinley 's father was a grave, earnest man, 
large-hearted, wlnsom.e, strong to uphold the right and 
quick to denounce the wrong. He established an iron 
foundry at Fairfield, Columbian County, Ohio, and was 
for twenty years interested in iron furnaces in New Ar- 
lington, Ohio. In the midst of his labors he took pains 
to see tliat his family should early begin their education. 



BIRTH OF WlIvIvIAM M KINLEY. it 

The younger William needed no urging in this respect. 
He was passionately fond of his books, and friends who 
came to the house often said : "That boy is always study- 
ing, studying, studying." 

Not infrequently the father remonstrated and sug- 
gested that all work and no play was unwise ; but he felt 
that his boy was laying up a store of knowledge that 
would one day be useful to him, though he did not sus- 
pect the part that the lad, when he had grown to man's es- 
tate, was to perform. 

The boyhood of William McKinley was so similar to 
that of hundreds of other boys that little need be said of 
it. He was one of the most diligent of scholars and ever 
stood high in his class. After school hours he would 
climb into his favorite chair in the comer of the living- 
room and open his book. But not always would he be 
allowed to enjoy it undisturbed. More frequently he 
was called upon to read aloud ; and the man who, in later 
years held thousands spellbound by his eloquence, never 
had a more attentive audience than that little company in 
the old frame cottage at Niles. 

As the head of the family saw his four sons and fiVe 
daughters, all bright, intelligent and fond of knowledge, 
growing up all around him, he felt the need of better edu- 
cational advantages than were afforded at Niles. Accord- 
ingly, in 1852, the family moved to Poland, a small town 
ihat had two academic schools^ one under the control of 
the Methodists and the other of the Presbyterians. The 
latter was destroyed by fire shortly after the McKinleys 
went to Poland, and the facilities of the two institutions 
were united under the name of the Poland Union Sem- 
inary. 

William McKinley's religious principles were strength- 
ened, and, although more bound up in his studies, he was 



14 BIRTH OF WILLIAM M'KINLBY, 

well liked for his genial and kindly disposition. He was 
founder of the Everett Literary Society, named in honor 
of the celebrated orator of that name, who was then at 
the height of his fame. William was the first president 
of the club, and its soul and life. There was no question 
too profound or abstruse to frighten those budding ora- 
tors, statesmen and scholars. They were ready to tackle 
anything, and the debates, if unheard of outside of the 
walls of the little building, engaged all the faculties and 
skill of the debaters themselves. In those debates William 
presided or took part. When his interest was deeply 
moved, he would call a member to the chair, and, taking 
the floor, would become one of the most earnest and con- 
vincing speakers. Beyond question he thus laid the 
foundation of his extraordinary skill as a debater and 
helped to acquire his convincing style. 

Thus the days passed until he reached his eighteenth 
year. Not only had he attained the front rank among 
the students, but his wide reading and the association 
with his parents had broadened his knowledge. He was 
fully prepared to enter college, and when he presented 
himself at Allegheny College at Meadville, Pa., his exam- 
ination was so brilliant that he was admitted to the junior 
class, thus cutting the required course in half. 

But offended nature now made herself heard. Neglect- 
ed recreaton, "all work and no play," caused such a break- 
down in his health that he was compelled to leave college 
and leturn to Poland. His mental activity would not al- 
low him to remain idle, and he hired as the teacher of 
the public school in the Kerr district, some two and a 
half miles from his home. The brisk walk to and fro- each 
day helped to build up his health, and it looked as if he 
would soon be able to gratify his dearest wish of return- 
ing to college and completing his course of study. 



BIRTH OF WIIvLIAM M'KINIvEY. 15 

If my readers will reflect, they will note that the most 
critical time in our history was drawing near, while young 
McKinley was teaching his country school. Congress was 
torn by the slavery debates, there were wrangling and per- 
sonal collisions, the air was filled with threats of dis- 
union, and the thoughtful ones saw the approach of civil 
war that was to fill the country with mourning, and spread 
death and desolation through thousands of homes. 

There was no person more intensely interested in the 
sweep of events than young McKinley. He eagerly read 
the news, and had he been old enough, would have cast 
his vote for Abraham Lincoln, in whose principles he firm- 
ly believed. The election was in November, i860, and 
South Carolina proved her fearful earnestness by formal- 
ly withdrawing from the Union on the 20th of the follow- 
ing month. Other States followed, the Southern Con- 
federacy was formed, and on the 8th of February Jeffer- 
son Davis was chosen president of the Confederate States 
of America. 

Then followed the inauguration of President Lincoln, 
accompanied as it was by threats of his assassination. 
Armed troops filled Washington, to which city he had 
made his way by a secret midnight journey from Phila- 
delphia. His inaugural breathed no ill-will toward the 
men who were loud in their threats of seceding from the 
Union. He declared that he was firmly resolved to sup- 
port the Constitution and the laws. Indeed, no other 
course was left to him, for had he wished to do otherwise 
he would not have been permitted. 

But the South was determined to secede. Nothing 
could stop her. As one of the leaders answered the plea 
of a Northern friend : 

"If you should give us a blank sheet of paper on which 
to write our own terms for remaining in the Union, we 



i6 BIRTH 01^ V/ILLIAM M'KINLEY. 

should refuse; we are going to secede and nothing can 
stop us." 

Such was the spirit that sent State after State out of 
the Union, until eleven of them were arrayed against the 
national government. Nor did the South hesitate to prove 
her sincerity. When Major Anderson, in command of 
Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was summoned to 
surrender and refused, fire was opened upon him. For 
thirty-four hours the bombardment continued, and then 
the exhausted garrison hauled down the Stars and Stripes 
and surrendered, prisoners of war. 

Who that can remember those days will never forget 
the effect produced throughout the country by the news 
of the fall of Fort Sumter? Never again will such scenes 
be witnessed? There v/ere thousands of good and loyal 
men who had urged almost every conceivable compromise 
in the hope of restraining the South from its mad course. 
In their anxiety they went to the furthest verge that self- 
respect would permit. They censured the North for its 
harshness and insisted that it was- still possible to prevent 
civil war. 

But all this was changed by the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter. The "peace at any price" men now became the 
most ardent in demanding the conquest of the revolting 
States. They clamored for war and insisted that the op- 
portunity should be given them to march against the foes 
of their country. Through every city, town, village and 
hamlet, and across the plains of the West, the martial 
spirit swept like a prairie fire. The man who spoke in 
favor of the South or of letting the "erring sisters" go 
in peace was mobbed. The few who dared to raise their 
voices in such a plea had to flee from their indignant 
neighbors to escape with their lives. The air rang with 
shouts, bonfires blazed, war meetings were held by the 



BIRTH OF WIIvLIAM M'KINLEY. i? 

hundred and one unshakable resolve swayed and con- 
trolled the North from end to end. Sumter's cannon had 
unified her people. 

And it was the same in the South. There had been 
worriment, anxiety and argument there, for amid the de- 
lirium that seized the leaders, there were many who still 
loved the old! Union, and this love could not be destroyed 
in a day. Their fathers had followed Old Glory too many 
times through the flame of battle to victory and triumph 
to turn their backs upon it and swear allegiance to a new 
and strange flag, and yet, as in the case of the North, 
all was changed by the roar of the guns in Charleston 
harbor. Doubt and hesitation vanished. The love for the 
Union turned to hate, and the Southerners were equally 
clamorous in shouting for the Stars and Bars and de- 
manding a chance to risk their lives in driving back the 
invaders of the "sacred soil" of the South. 

One of the most prominent of the Confederate leaders 
told me that although his family were strongly secession 
in their sentiments from the first, he curbed their feelings 
with an iron hand and resolved never to abate his effort 
to prevent the secession of the State (Virginia). This 
resolution did not falter until the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter. 

"Then/* said he, "my whole nature seemed to be 
changed. I became a more extreme disunionist than any 
member of my family. Before the call for troops was 
issued, I set about raising a company, in which my only 
son was the first to volunteer. I saw him die at Manassas, 
his head on my knee, and mourned because I had not 
another son to give to my country.'* 

Now that war had come, there was no hesitation on the 
part of the national government. Fort Sumter surren- 
dered April 14, 1 86 1, and the next day President Lincoln 



l8 BIRTH OF V ^^M M'KINIvKY. 

issued a call for 75,000 volunteers. Hardly was t^ 
dry when 300,000 patriots strove for a place in tl-. 
The call was for three months' men, but as the m t; 

of the impending struggle grew to be undo^ e 

President on the 3d of May asked for three y^u' */i- 

teers and a large addition to the regular army a vVy. 

William McKinley had finished his engage '^ as 

teacher and was serving as a clerk in a store, preparing 
for his return to college. He was stirred to the soul 
by patriotism, and when one bright day in May, the Po- 
land Guards, composed of the young and undisciplined 
youths of the place, marched to Youngstown,, to the music 
of fife and drum, they were followed by scores of men 
and boys, among whom were William McKinley and his 
cousin, William M. Osborne, of about the samx age. Both 
were slender striplings and neither very strong, but they 

i^re thoroughly imbued with the war spirit. 

Walking homeward at the close of day, they were silent 
for a time, both in deep thought. Suddenly McKinley halt- 
ed, and, looking his cousin in the eye, said: 

"Bill, we can't stay out of this war ; we must enlist." 

"I should love to do so, but we cannot get the consent 
of our parents." 

"They must consent," said the young patriot, as they 
hurried to their homes. 



19 



CHAPTER 11. 

MCKINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE — THE TWENTY-THIRD 

OHIO SERVICES IN WESTERN VIRGINIA m'kINLEy's 

FIRST PROMOTION TRIBUTES BY HIS OFFICERS AT 

SOUTH MOUNTAIN BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 

Those were solemn times, full of tears and mourning 
and fears for the loved ones, who marched to the field of 
battle, many, alas ! never to return. And yet the gravest of 
subjects seem to have a humorous side. I remember that 
account by my old friend Artemus Ward, the prince of 
humorists, of a Union meeting. Nearly all of those w^ 
volunteered did so as officers, the favorite position be 
that of brigadier-general. Men who had never so muc.i 
as aimed and fired a musket announced themselves eager 
to serve as leaders. Artemus proposed that they should 
raise a company of brigadier-generals. When the squad 
came to be drilled he said they particularly excelled in 
**restin' muskets." He himself reached the highest pitch 
of patriotism when he announced himself ready to sacri- 
fice all his wife's able-bodied relations for the glorious 
cause of the Union. 

Now, the patriotism of William McKinley was not of 
that sort. Hardly had be reached his home from Youngs- 
town when he began pleading with his father aiid mother 
for their permission to enlist. No parents loved a son 
more than they, but the appeal of the young patriot won, 
as did that of his cousin, and the next day they hurried 
back to Youngstown. McKinley had no thought of 
honors. His guiding principle was duty. All he asked 



io M'KINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 

was that because of his slenderness and lack of rugged 
vigor he might be rejected. In truth, there was some 
was a chance to fight for his country, and his only fear 
grounds for this fear, for so many lusty young men were 
enlisting that the government could afford to be particu- 
lar. Had McKinley been refused by the recruiting officer 
it would have well-nigh broken his heart. When he stood 
up, looking as manly as possible, and the officer who 
thumped his breast said, ''You'll do," there wasn't a hap- 
pier member in the whole regiment. General Fremont 
showed a special interest in him, though young McKinley 
feared he was simply considering whether or not to ac- 
cept him as a recruit. 

William McKinley became a private in Company E, 
which, with others, from various parts of the State, 
formed the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. 

Years afterward, when fame and honors had come to 
William McKinley, he referred to his war experience : 

"I always look back with pleasure upon those fourteen 
months in which I served in the ranks. They taught me 
a great deal. I was but a schoolboy when I went into 
the army, and that first year was a formative period in 
my life, during which I learned much of men and facts. 
I have always been glad that I entered the service as a 
private, and served those months in that capacity." 

The Twenty-third Ohio was one of the most famous 
regiments of the war. The men who composed it were of 
a high order of intelligence, many possessing unusual at- 
tainments, while the majority were strong, rugged and 
resolute, and all were inspired by lofty patriotism. The 
first colonel was William S. Rosecrans, ofted called "Old 
Rosy," who became a prominent Union leader in the war. 
Rutherford B. Hayes, afterward President of the United 
States, was the first major, and Stanley Matthews, who 



M'KINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 21 

later was United States Senator from Ohio, and Justice 
of the Supreme Court of the United States, was the first 
lieutenant-colonel. 

A few statistics are eloquent. From the organization 
of the regiment to the day it mustered out it had 2,095 
men; the number killed in battle was 169, the number who 
died from disease was 107, making 276 the total loss. 

There is one truth regarding the War for the Union 
which few people remember. We recall and very justly 
mourn the thousands of precious lives that were lost in the 
prosecution of that mighty struggle, but are apt to forget 
that thousands of lives were also saved through service in 
the ranks. Many men are living to-day because of the 
robust health gained by the march, the rough outdoor 
life and the hardships and training of the camp. When 
William McKinley enlisted! at the age of eighteen he was 
weak, delicate and almost an invalid. It would be pre- 
sumptuous for us to attempt to say what would have been 
the result had he, instead of enlisting, re-entered college ; 
but it is not presumptuous to claim that it was his service 
in the field that gave him his superb strength and a phy- 
sique capable of doing and standing more work to-day 
than one man among a thousand. 

What woful lessons were taught to both North and 
South by the opening months of the great civil war! 
Secretary Seward declared that it would not last ninety 
days, and he was confessedly one of the most sagacious of 
statesmen. Prominent Northern leaders boasted that 
New York's famous Seventh Regiment would find it a 
picnic to march through Virginia and the Southern States 
to the Gulf of Mexico; Jeft'erson Davis in a speech pro- 
claimed that he could hold all the blood that would be 
shed in the hollows of his hands. There was as much 
boasting in one section as in the other, for every one 



22 M'KINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 

seemed to forget that American was now to be matched 
against American, and since they are the bravest people 
in the world the fighting must be of the most terrific 
character. 

The battle of Bull Run, fought on Sunday, the 21st day 
of July, caused the scales to fall from all eyes. Then it 
was that the North awoke to the fact that the South was 
united, brave and resolute, and her armies were led by 
skilled generals. The war was to be a long and bloody 
one and preparations were made on a vast scale to push 
it to a successful conclusion. 

McClellan was called to command at Washington, and 
on the 23d of July General Rosecrans assumed charge of 
the Department of the Ohio. The Union cause sufifered 
many discouraging defeats for more than a year after the 
opening of hostilities, about the only section where there 
were any successes being in West Virginia, first under the 
command of General McClellan, a brilliant, dashing of- 
ficer, until by his transfer to a more important command 
he became timid, hesitating and tardy, and finally wore 
out the patience of President Lincoln. 

McKinley first saw fighting in Western Virginia, where 
his regiment did excellent service. At the head of 15,000 
soldiers, drawn mainly from the West, McClellan ad- 
vanced against the Confederates, who were under the 
command of General Garnett, a former instructor of Mc- 
Clellan at West Point. Garnett took position on Laurel 
Hill, west of the principal line of the Alleghenies and cov- 
ering the road leading from Philippi to Beverly. Colonel 
Pegram with a detadhment was posted on an isolated hill 
named Rich Mountain, which was a few miles south of 
Laurel Hill. McClellan advanced against both of these 
positions and halted on the nth of July a little way from 
Rich M'ountain. The following morning General Rose- 



M'KINI^KY ENI.ISTS AS A PRIVATE. 23 

crans led four regiments by a circuitous course through 
the woods with the intention of flanking Pegram. The 
rain poured in torrents and the Confederates, quick to de- 
tect the approach of the Union troops, opened a heavy 
fire upon them. But the patriots pressed resolutely on 
and sent the enemy scurrying down the other side. Rose- 
crans then turned eastward and advanced to within three 
miles of Beverly, to which point General Garnett had re- 
treated upon finding his position turned. Frightened by 
Rosecrans' approach, Garnett hurried northward, hoping 
to reach St. George, on the Cheat River. 

Meanwhile Colonel Pegram had surrendered with six 
hundred of his men, the remainder having joined General 
Garnett, w^ho found himself hard pressed. To check the 
hot pursuit of the Unionists, the Confederates cut down 
trees and overturned huge boulders in their path, but 
their pursuers, who had already found the swollen 
streams and dense undergrowth a great obstacle, pushed 
on with tireless energy. Now and then they caught sight 
of the rear guard and fired upon them. 

The Confederates were overtaken at Carrick's Ford, on 
the Cheat River. In an impetuous attack General Gar- 
nett was killed and his force utterly routed. McClellan 
being now transferred to the command of the Army of 
the Potomac, the regiment to which McKinley was at- 
tached was ordered to Clarksburg, West Virginia. The 
section was pestered by guerillas, who committed many 
outrages, and against whom the Twenty-third bent most 
of its efforts. The work was of the severest nature. It 
seemed to be raining three-fourths of the time, but the 
activity of the guerillas allowed little rest to the Union 
troops, who made hurried and exhausting marches at 
night amid drenching rains, climbed rugged mountains, 
scrambling down declivities and ever on the alert for the 



'i4 M'KINIvEY ENIylSTS AS A PRIVATE. 

vigilant enemy, whose manner of fighting was like that 
of the wild Indian. 

Through all these trying tests of endurance and bravery 
none bore himself more admirably than young McKinley. 
His strength increased, his slender frame filled, his mus- 
cles hardened, he was prompt in obeying his officers, 
ready at all times to go upon the most dangerous work 
and intent only of rendering every service possible to his 
country. 

McKinley spent the first winter of the war in camp. 
The period was a trying one, not only to the country at 
large, but to the soldiers themselves. Although at the 
head of one of the most magnificent armies ever drawn 
together, McClellan dallied, continually drilling his men, 
and refusing to move against the enemy, where the 
recruits were also drilling and strengthening themselves 
to repel his advance, whenever it should be made. 

On the 15th of April, 1862, McKinley won his first 
promotion — that of commissary-sergeant, and it was se- 
cured through his attention to "Httle things" so often 
considered unworthy the notice of those in higher station. 
Regarding this promotion, ex-President Hayes, who, it 
will be remembered, was the young man's superior officer, 
said: 

"Young as McKinley was, we soon found that in busi- 
ness, in executive ability, he was a man of rare capacity, of 
imusual and surpassing capacity, especially for a boy of 
his age. When battles were fought, or a service was to be 
performed in warlike things, he always took his place. 
The night was never too dark, the weather was never too 
cold, there was no sleet or storm, or hail or snow, that 
was in the way of his prompt and efficient performance of 
every duty. When I became commander of the regiment 
h^ sopn came to be upon my stafif, and he remained upon 



M'KINIvEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 25 

my staff for one or two years, so that I did literally and in 
fact know him like a book and love him like a brother." 

General Russell Hastings was a Heutenant in the 
Twenty-third Ohio when McKinley was a private. Long 
after the close of the war General Hastings said: 

"Major McKinley was always keen, quick and alert, 
and so was naturally fitted for staff service, a fact his 
superiors soon realized and took advantage of, so that 
during the greater part of the war he served on the staff 
of the general officers, one of the most dangerous po- 
sitions in the army, one which required the utmost readi- 
ness of resource and bravery of the highest order." 

McKinley had hardly received his promotion when his 
regiment, under the command of Colonel Hayes, broke 
camp and led the advance against the enemy. A brisk 
engagement took place at Clarke's Hollow on the ist of 
May, after which the regiment advanced toward Prince- 
ton, West Virginia, which was evacuated by the Confed- 
erates upon the approach of the Unionists. Colonel 
Hayes was attacked the following week by an overwhelm- 
ing force, and fell slowly back to East River, contesting 
every foot of the way. Princeton was abandoned, and on 
the 15th of July the regiment reached Camp Piatt, on the 
Great Kanawha. In order to do this the troops marched 
one hundred miles in three days through oppressively hot 
v/eather. A junction was made with McClellan's forces, 
ihe Twenty-third going in cars from Perkersville to 
Washington, and the enemy was driven out of Frederick, 
Maryland. 

Suppose that when this slim commissary-sergeant, too 
young for a beard to show on his face, stood gazing at 
Washington, some one had said to him: 

**You are now looking upon the capital of your country 
for the first time; before double your present years have 



26 M'KINLKY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 

been added to your life you sliall sit in that White House 
yonder as the President of the United States." 

Suppose that one of the Union soldiers had said this to 
the boy, what would he have done? He would have 
called the guard and had him locked up as a lunatic, and 
yet the prophecy would have been a true one. 

We refer to 1776 as the dark days of our country, but 
they were no darker than those of 1862, when the defiant 
Confederate forces were within sight of our national cap- 
ital, when they were winning victories everywhere, when 
Great Britain, France and Spain had acknowledged them 
as belligerents, when their privateers threatened to drive 
our commerce from the ocean and our armies were beaten 
back again and again in their advance against Richmond. 

There was but little time in which to vievv^ the wonders 
of Washington, Vv^hen orders were issued for the advance 
upon Frederick. General Lee, flushed with victory, had 
started on his invasion of the North. He entered West- 
ern Maryland and established his communications with 
Richmond through the Shenandoah Valley. On the loth 
of September Lee advanced toward the upper Potomac, 
entering the mountainous section of Maryland. McClel- 
lan cautiously followed, watching his movements. 

At South Mountain the enemy, although not quite so 
numerous as the Union force, held an almost impregnable 
position, but the Unionists manoeuvred with great skill, 
and by resistless daring in their attack drove the enemy 
from his position, the loss to the assailants being 312 
killed and m.ore than a thousand wounded, while that of 
the enemy was still greater. In this spirited engagement 
Colonel Hayes was wounded and the Twenty-third dis- 
played the greatest possible gallantry. The men made 
three charges with the bayonet, each of which was sue- 



M'KINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVATE. 27 

cessful, and lost half their effective force. Their colors 
were riddled, but never lowered. 

Severe as was the battle, every one knew that the real 
struggle was yet to come. Only a portion of the forces 
had been engaged and the armies themselves were soon 
to meet in the death grapple. The repulse at South 
Mountain compelled Lee to retreat over the Antietam 
Creek to the little town of Sharpsburg. Skirmishing fol- 
lowed for several days, and on the i6th the Army of 
Northern Virginia, under General Lee, and the Army of 
the Potomac, under General McClellan, opened the real 
battle, which was the bloodiest fought during the entire 
war. 

The Confederates, who were less numerous than the 
Unionists, w^ere stationed along- the Antietam Creek, their 
flanks resting on the Potomac River, and they had placed 
strong guards at three of the four stone bridges which 
cross the creek. Hooker was sent over the fourth and 
unguarded bridge to attack the Confederate flank, while 
the batteries on both sides kept up a continuous fire. 
Before anything was accomplished darkness fell and the 
fighting ceased. 

Early the next morning Hooker assaulted Stonewall 
Jackson and forced him to retire, but he vv^as speedily 
reinforced and in turn drove Hooker back. The fighting 
continued and was of the most desperate character, since 
each side was repeatedly reinforced. The force defending 
the bridge in front of Burnside was so weakened by the 
necessity of helping Jackson that it could have been easily 
captured. Repeated orders were sent to Burnside to cap- 
ture it and attack Lee's centre, but he refused to move, 
though commanded again and again to do so. Finally 
he advanced, but so weakly that at first he v/as repelled. 
Persisting, however, "he finally succeeded and dislodged 



28 M'KINLEY ENLISTS AS A PRIVAT3. 

the Confederates posted on the heights overlooking 
Sharpsburg. Just then Hill arrived v^^ith fresh troops, 
who, uniting with Lee, drove out Burnside and retook the 
heights. Fighting ceased at night, with no advantage to 
either side. Leaving out the losses in the campaign lead- 
ing up to Antietam, the Unionists had 2,108 killed, 9,549 
wounded and 753 missing, making up an appalling total 
of 12,410. 

The Confederate losses, from September 12 to the 20th 
were: Killed, 1,886; wounded, 4,068; captured and miss- 
ing, 651, making a total of 6,605. 

The expectation was that McClellan would follow up 
his attack upon Lee the next day, but, as usual, he halted 
and did nothing. The impatience with him was so in- 
tense, even among his own ofihcers, that an approach was 
made to General Hooker to assume the command and 
assail the enemy before he could withdraw into Virginia; 
but Hooker was wounded, and though none was angrier 
than he over the slowness of his commander he was 
unable to try that which in any other army would have 
caused him to be executed for insubordination. The fact 
that he was disabled prevented the direct request being 
made to him, and thus it must always remain a question 
whether he would have dared to supplant McClellan as 
was certainly the wish o^f many of the officers. 



CHAPTER III. 

A. BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT — REPELLING THE MORGAN 
RAIDERS PROMOTION THE VICTORY AT CLOYD MOUN- 
TAIN m'kINLEY's BRAVERY SERVICES IN THE SHEN- 
ANDOAH VALLEY A UNION DEFEAT BY GENERAL 

EARLY THE IMPERILED REGIMENT THE ONLY HOPE. 

One of the greatest generals that ever lived declared 
that the severest test of a soldier's bravery was to be sent 
into battle hungry. If he conducted himself gallantly 
throughout the struggle, he was a hero. 

Such was the trying ordeal to which the Twenty-third 
Ohio, in common with many other boys in blue, was sub- 
jected. From what has already been said, it will be under- 
stood that the battle of Antietam was one of the fiercest 
engagements of the whole war, well winning the title of 
being the "bloodiest" contest that occurred anywhere be- 
tween the first battle of Bull Run and the surrender at 
Appomattox. There was hardly a moment's cessation 
from sunrise until sunset, and the Twenty-third was in 
the midst of the hardest of all the fighting. Suffering 
from hunger and thirst, not a man could be spared tO' go 
to the rear for refreshments. They had to fight on, gain- 
ing and giving ground, struggling doggedly and bravely, 
but weakened bodily as well as in spirits by the craving 
for food and the almost intolerable thirst. 

Sergeant McKinley never did a more welcome and 
blessed thing than when, in charge of the commissary de- 
partment of the brigade, whose supplies were two miles 
to the rear of the famishing troops, he gathered up the 
stragglers, placed them in charge of food and hot coffee 



30 A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT„ 

and hurried them back tO' the exhausted soldiers, still 
fighting with the heroism of desperation. It was at the 
close of that awful day that the Twenty-third broke into 
cheers at the sight of McKinley and his men rushing two 
wagons of supplies to the front. The mules were lashed 
into a run and bullets were flying everywhere. The ser- 
geant was in such danger that he was ordered back several 
times, but he pushed on. One team was disabled, but the 
work was completed with the other, and never was any- 
thing more welcome than the hot drink and warm food 
to the panting men who hastily svv^allowed the refresh- 
ments with their smoking muskets in one hand, and their 
faces begrimed with powder. Instantly they took heart, 
and it is not too much to say that with the new strength 
and courage thus imparted the Twenty-third was enabled 
to withstand and beat back the furious onslaught made 
upon their position at the close of the day. 

There was more in this apparently simple act than ap- 
pears at first sight. It was essentially the right thing done 
at the right time. The thoughtfulness and bravery dis- 
played by McKinley no sooner became known to Colonel 
Hayes, who had gone home to Ohio to recover from his 
wounds, than he called upon Governor Tod, and related 
the incident. The war governor immediately ordered that 
the youth should be promoted to a lieutenancy. This was 
done, his commission as second lieutenant of Company D 
being dated September 23, 1862, six days after the deed 
that won the promotion. 

In October following, the Twenty-third Ohio, with the 
remainder of the Kanawha division, was sent back to West 
Virginia, where in November they went into winter quar- 
ters. Inaction followed until July, when Ohio was 
startled by one of the most daring raids of the war. John 
H, Morgan, the famous guerilla leader, early in July with 



A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 31 

two thousand five hundred men seized on Columbia, to 
the norlhwest of Jamestown, Kentucky, and advanced ^o 
Greenbrier Bridge, which was so bravely defended by 
Colonel Moore that the raiders were compelled to retreat. 

Morgan next attacked Lebanon, and in the savage fight- 
ing that followed his brother in command of one of the 
regiments was killed. The place was fired, and the Union 
troops surrendered. Knowing that the Union cavalry 
were hard after him, Morgan retreated through northern 
Kentucky, plundering right and left. Reckless and desper- 
ate, his raiders recrossed the Ohio into Indiana and spread 
consternation among the people. The local militia were 
swept aside and Ohio was terrified. Cincinnati was 
threatened, but seeing his danger Morgan headed for 
West Virginia, his nearest shelter. 

It was the i6th of July that the Twenty-third Ohio 
learned of the presence of the raiders in Ohio, and Colonel 
Hctyes, at the head of two regiments, with a section of 
artillery quickly moved against them. Two days later, 
the enemy was defeated in a skirmish and the next day 
utterly routed, most O'f the men captured, including Mor- 
gan and his leading officers, who were lodged in the Ohio 
penitentiary. It may be added that with the aid of friends 
Morgan made his escape some weeks later, succeeded in 
reaching his lines, and was soon at the head of another 
raiding expedition. But it was his last. He was betrayed, 
and in the scrimmage that followed was killed while try- 
ing to escape. 

Having finished the good piece of work, the Twenty- 
third had little or nothing to do until the latter part of 
April, 1864, when it advanced to a point a short distance 
above Brownstown, on the Kanawha, to aid General 
Crook, who had already become famous as an Indian 
fighter, in a raid on the Virginia & Tennessee Railway. 



JS A BRAVK AND THOUGHTFUI. ACT. 

The march was one of the severest conceivable. Chill- 
ing rains and biting sleet and snow blinded and benumbed 
the soldiers as they struggled through the dense woods 
and matted undergrowth, climbing mountains, often 
crawling on hands and knees, where the steepness of the 
slopes prevented their standing, continually fired upon by 
the skulking guerillas, who were as much at home as so 
many Apaches in the wild solitudes, and who neglected 
no chance of killing the Unionists exposed to their treach- 
ery, in peril every hour of the day and night, the troops 
pushed on, until the 9th oi May, when the battle of Cloyd 
Mountain was fought and won. 

Previous to this while in camp (February 7, 1863), ^^~ 
Kinley was promoted to first lieutenant of Company E, 
and such was his standing when he helped to fight the 
battle of Cloyd Mountain. The First Brigade was com- 
manded by Colonel Hayes, with the Twenty-third Ohio 
placed on the right, while most of the remaining troops 
were from Ohio. 

It was a necessity for Richmond, the capital of the Con- 
federacy, to keep open its communications with the South- 
west, where it had vital interests to protect, and the object 
of General Crook's expedition was to destroy the Virginia 
& Tennessee Railway bridge over New River, which 
would sever for a time this connection. 

General Crook had learned cunning in fighting the In- 
dians on the border, and he now worked a clever trick 
upon the enemy. Advancing up to the Kanawha, he 
gathered all his bands together, placed them at the head of 
the regiment with instructions to strain every nerve and 
muscle to fill the country with music, while advancing im- 
pressively in the direction of Leesburg, which was also in 
the direction of Richmond. Meanwhile, with his main 



• A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 33 

force, General Crook marched toward the bridge over 
I^ew River. 

The Confederate garrison at Fort Breckenridge were 
so scared by the approach of the seemingly immense army, 
preceded with its tremendous array of bands, that they 
did not wait to fire a gun, but fled pell mell. By and by, 
to their chagrin, they discovered the trick that had been 
played on them and hurried back. A strong force under 
General Jenkins reached a position to the rear of Crook's 
men, who found the enemy intrenched on Cloyd Moun- 
tain, which was steep and thickly wooded, and skirted by 
a stream of water. The approach was across a level field, 
four or five miles in extent. 

It was about noon that Crook's troops were descried by 
the enemy, Vv'ho opened with cannon. The Confederate 
position was very strong, and the first attack of the Union- 
ists was repulsed. Seeing that success could be gained 
only by the hardest kind of fighting. General Crook or- 
dered Colonel Hayes with two brigades to advance across 
the open meadow and charge up the hill upon the bat- 
teries, promising at the same time to accompany the men. 

The national forces started across the meadow on the 
double quick in the face of a severe fire of m.usketry and 
artillery. When at the base of the mountain, the Con- 
federate fortifications could not be seen, and for the first 
time the Ohio boys discovered the stream that skirted the 
elevation. Without hesitation they dashed into the water, 
waded across and started up the slope, which was so steep 
that the bulging ground above protected them from the 
enemy's fire. 

There was a few minutes' halt and then the Unionists 
clambered upward witli the greatest gallantry. But the 
enemy was waiting, and as soon as they could be seen, as 
they climbed into view, a fearful fire was poured into 



34 A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 

them. The brave boys were staggered for a moment, but 
when the officers shouted ''Charge!" the response was in- 
stant and enthusiastic. The fort was found to be an earth- 
work, strengthened by fence rails skewered through it. 
The defence was one of the most difficult to take, but 
nothing could stay the charge of the Ohio men. The 
Twenty-third was the first to bound over the fortifications 
and were foremost in the fierce struggle for possession of 
the guns. Henry B. Russell (to whom we are much in- 
debted for many facts given in these pages) says that 
Private Kosht, a boy of eighteen, leaped out of the line 
with a shout and hung his cap on the muzzle of one of 
the cannon. 

The enemy was driven back and the Unionists hurried 
to Dublin Depot, on the Virginia & Tennessee Railway, 
where the bridges were burned and the tracks torn up. 
Next, the New River bridge was destroyed, and then, 
fighting almost contiiiuo-u&ly, the- troops marched to 
Staunton, where the Ohio brigade joined the command of 
General Hunter. Three days later (June ii) Lexington, 
after a brisk fight, was captured. 

No soldier or officer in the Union force displayed truer 
bravery than Lieutenant McKinley. He was foremost in 
attack and inspired his men by his own intrepidity, while 
his superior officers viewed his conduct with undisguised 
admiration. 

An advance was made against Lynchburg, but the 
enemy was heavily reinforced and a movement against 
Hunter's centre compelled him to retreat to the town of 
Liberty. The enemy pressed our troops hard and much 
sufifering followed. There was fighting continuously for 
nine days, during which the Unionists marched one hun- 
dred and eighty miles, with little food and rest, crossing 
three Allegheny ranges four times and the Blue Ridge 



A BRAVB AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 35 

twice. More than once the troops marched all day and 
all night without sleep, except such "cat naps" as cavalry- 
men learn to catch in the saddle and foot soldiers while 
on the march. When the time came for rest and eating, it 
need not be said that the rugged fellows made up for the 
deprivation of the preceding week. 

Jubal Early about this time entered Pennsylvania with 
his "rebel horde" and spread consternation through the 
regions which for the first time gained a taste of what real 
war means. 

The militia could accomplish nothing against these sea- 
soned veterans who wore the gray, and Crook's command 
was ordered East to help turn back the invaders. 

The Ohio men soon found themselves in the thickest of 
the fight again. Unaccompanied by cavalry and with 
only two sections of howitzer battery, they were sent 
against an immense force under Early a few miles beyond 
Harper's Ferry. The Unionists were speedily surrounded 
by two divisions of Confederate cavalry, but cut their way 
through and joined Crook at Winchester, where they 
gained a brief and much needed rest. 

The belief of General Grant was that Early had been 
sent by Lee to join the main Confederate army at Rich- 
mond. Feeling the need of every man obtainable. Grant 
ordered two corps to unite with his army threatening the 
Confederate capital. Hunter was thus left with his single 
command in the Shenandoah Valley to confront the 
enemy. The Union infantry numbered about six thou- 
sand, with a brigade composed of the remnants of in- 
fantry and dismounted cavalry. There were alsO' some 
two thousand cavalry under Generals Averill and Duffie, 
but the whole was much inferior to the Confederates. 

While General Early was at Strasburg, he learned of 
the withdrawal of the two Union corps that had threat- 



56 A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 

ened him, and that Crook's force at Winchester was less 
than one-half of his own. He determined to hurry back 
and crush Crook, who had no notice or suspicion of his 
coming. 

On Sunday, July 24, the enemy drove in the Union 
outposts to the south of Winchester. Crook still sup- 
posed that Early was far off on the road to Richmond, but 
the reports that came in faster and faster left no doubt 
that the Confederates were advancing in formidable num- 
bers against him. Not a minute was to be lost, and Crook 
%ent forward his troops and formed a line of battle at the 
hamlet of Kernstown, four miles south of Winchester. 

Still under the belief that he had to meet only a recon- 
noissance the Union commander dispatched Hayes with 
his brigade, and ordered him to join his right with Col- 
onel Mulligan's brigades and then to charge the enemy. 
In obedience to these instructions, the advance was made 
against the two lines of skirmishers, but it was very soon 
discovered that strong bodies of the foe were posted on 
the hills to the right and left which inclosed the valley. 
The Unionists had thus marched into a trap, but they 
resolutely pushed forward. 

Crook now realized for the first time that Early, instead 
of having gone to Richmond as had been supposed, was 
before or rather around him with an army vastly superior 
to his own. Crook opened with his artillery from the high 
ground at the rear of the Union troops, firing over tlie 
heads of the infantry, while the enemy rained shot and 
shell among the advancing Ohio troops. Six thousand 
men were thus virtually surrounded by three times their 
number, and in the distance the Confederate cavalry were 
driving back the Union horsemen in confusion. 

The situation was hopeless and Early pressed his ad- 
vantage remorselessly. The brigade near the centre of 



A BRAVE AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 37 

the Uniorii line crumbled and gave way, and all that re- 
mained for the Federals was to extricate themselves be- 
fore it was too late. The peril could not have been more 
critical. The staff officers were galloping hither and 
tliither with numberless orders, the whole Union force 
was in rapid retreat, with imminent danger of a general 
stampede, in which everything would be lost, and only 
the most heroic courage and perfect skill could save them 
from irretrievable disaster. 

In the mJdst of this terrifying confusion the discovery 
was made that Colonel Brown's regiment, through some 
blunder or lack of orders, still retained its position, where 
it was posted at the beginning of the battle. It had suf- 
fered severely and was fighting with the fury of despera- 
tion, but if it remained, nothing could save it from cap- 
ture or annihilation. The men would not retreat without 
orders, and the eneni}^ was closing in upon the doomed 
men from every quarter. 

General Hayes saw that but one possibility of escape re- 
mained; that was to send orders to Colonel Brown to 
withdraw without an instant's delay, for it was evident by 
this time that the colonel and his men held no thought of 
retreat. 

But it was a long distance to that decimated regiment 
that had become the centre of an attack that would have 
destroyed a force five times as great. Whoever under- 
took to carry the fateful word to the brave men must do 
so at a risk greater than that of the defenders themselves. 
It would seem that there was barely one chance in a thou- 
sand of success. 

Who should take the message? In an anguish of 
anxiety General Hayes looked around for the man and 
saw him in the boy McKinley, His heart shrank at the 



38 A BRAVK AND THOUGHTFUL ACT. 

necessity of sacrificing that young life, for it seemed 
nothing less than that, but it was no time for hesitation. 

In a twinkling he made known his wishes to the youth. 

"Colonel Brown has no thought of retreat; not a mo- 
ment must be lost in ordering him to withdraw ; will you 
carry the order, lieutenant, to him?" 

McKinley nodded his head, made a quick military 
salute, headed his horse toward the imperiled regiment, 
and was off like a whirlwind! 

Filled with admiration and love for the young hero, 
Hayes said to himself in the bitterness of his anguish: 

''He can never do it! He is sure to be killed I" 



39 



CHAPTER IV. 

A DARING EXPLOIT — A PICTURESQUE BATTLE — THE BATTLE 
OF BERRYVILLE EVENTS IN THE SHENANDOAH VAL- 
LEY THE BATTLE OF OPEQUAN DEFEAT OF EARLY 

THE QUICK WIT OF m'kINLEY ON SHERIDAN's STAFF 

— Sheridan's ride. 

Filled as are the records of the War for the Union with 
deeds on both sides which quicken the pulse and thrill 
the heart, there is none more heroic than that of the youth 
McKinley, when at the word from his commander he 
spurred his horse across the plain on a dead run and 
dashed through the sleet of death to the lone regiment 
far away that was being shot to pieces. 

The eyes of Hayes and hundreds remained fixed upon 
the form of the boyish lieutenant as he sped across the 
open fields, heading like an arrow from the bow for the 
little band of men almost hidden from sight in flame and 
smoke. Over the obstructing fences bounded the gallant 
steed, as if he knew the desperate work required of him 
and the momentous issues at stake. Of the enthralled 
spectators not one expected to see the rider again alive. 

Shot and shell were flying all round him, but on he 
went as if he bore a charmed life. Suddenly an infernal 
missile curved over and plunged to the earth at his side. 
In the same instant it exploded into a thousand frag- 
ments, and horse and rider disappeared in smoke, dust 
and debris. 

"He is killed! Both are killed! They have been blown 
to atoms!" 



40 A DARING EXPLOIT. 

But no ; from out the horrible melee emerged the tough 
pony, still galloping toward the regiment, and the strip- 
ling of a lieutenant was seated firmly in the saddle, spur- 
ring the animal to the utmost verge of effort. Then the 
spectators breathed again. 

For a brief distance the horse and rider were partly 
screened, but a moment later they debouched into the 
open again, where their peril became more fearful than 
before, for they were now closer than ever to the swarm- 
ing enemy, who, reading the purpose of the young officer, 
converged scores of shots upon him. But, refusing to 
bend his head to the av/ful blast, he thundered onward 
with the same headlong speed as at first. 

In the hope of saving that precious life. Crook's bat- 
teries from the top of an adjoining ridge opened furiously 
and for a few brief moments held the enemy in check, 
during which the messenger reached the regiment and de- 
livered the orders of General Kayes. In the flush of the 
moment Lieutenant McKinley could not forbear adding a 
well-merited reproof: 

**I supposed you knew enough to withdraw without 
waiting for orders." 

'T was thinking about it," repHed Colonel Brown, ''and 
guess we'll make a move, but I must let those fellows have 
another volley or two.'' 

"Be quick about it, then!" 

Up rose the regiment, delivered its volley, and, still fir- 
ing, began slowly retreating, with Lieutenant McKinley 
leading. They finally escaped to the Winchester pike, 
where the young officer, after bringing the regiment to 
its place in the column, rode up to General Hayes with his 
report. 

That commander Avas visibly affected, and after thank- 
ing and complimenting the lieutenant added; 



A DARING EXPtOlT. 41 

"I never expected to see you alive again.'* 

The Union troops had been defeated, and their retreat 
lasted until midnight. Frequently they halted to beat 
back the enemy, who pressed them hard, and then re- 
sumed their flight before the greatly superior forces. 
After a long and harassing march they finally shook O'fif 
their pursuers and the retreat came to an end. 

No government is quicker than our own to recognize 
and reward merit. One of the bravest and best companies 
in the Twenty-third Ohio was Company G, of which Lieu- 
tenant McKinley was made captain July 25, 1864. 

His comrades rejoiced in his good fortune, for truly 
never was honor more worthily won. 

No region was more harassed during the civil war than 
the Shenandoah Valley. The opposing troopers rode 
through it back and forth, and the town of Winchester 
had been taken and retaken four times in a single day. 
Mosby's guerillas made themselves a terror in the valley, 
it was tramped by opposing thousands, and cannon 
boomed, shells screamed and musketry rattled night and 
day, and seemingly for weeks without cessation, until the 
time came, when in the words of General Sheridan, a crow 
would not dare to fly across the Shenandoah Valley with- 
out taking his rations with him. 

One of the most picturesque engagements fought in 
the Shenandoah Valley took place at Berryville on the 
3d of September, 1864. Although the fighting was of the 
severest nature, the result, as in many other instances, 
was indecisive. General Longstreet was one of the fore- 
most leaders of the Confederacy, and his veterans ranked 
among the very best in the service, but when they ran 
against the Western boys in blue they found more than 
once that they had met their masters. It is said that 
at the terrific battle of Chickamauga, where General 



42 A DARING EXPLOIT. 

Thomas stood like a mountj^in wall and saved the Union 
army from destruction, Longstreet brought up his sol- 
diers who had helped to win many a victory in Virginia 
and launched them against the immovable force of 
Ihomas. 

"Lie down, Tennesseeans," shouted the confident gray- 
backs, "and see the Virginians go in!" 

"Go in," repHed the Tennesseeans, as they made way 
for the yelling veterans, "and you'll find you are not fight- 
ing Eastern bounty jumpers." 

A few minutes later Longstreet's men came scrambling 
back pell-mell, leaving scores wounded and dead. Then 
their comrades sprang to their feet and shouted : 

"Rise up, Tennesseeans, and see the Virginians come 
out!" 

It was the same men that charged with ear-splitting 
yells the Ohio troops, who received them with so wither- 
ing and destructive a fire that they reeled and scattered. 
Captain McKinley was in the midst, cheering his com- 
rades, when his horse was shot dead, but leaping from the 
saddle he fought with his usual bravery on foot until the 
foe disappeared from his front. 

Later in the day the Unionists tried to hold a stretch 
of turnpike by which a force of cavalry that had been sent 
to cut off the supplies to the rear of Early's division were 
to rejoin the Union command. A Confederate charge 
was repulsed and the Unionists charged in turn, but at 
the reserve line of the enemy rallied, and being reinforced 
repelled the Federals, who were forced to take shelter in 
the woods. 

By this time night had closed in; all wished to stop 
fighting, and the respective commanders desired to with- 
draw their troops, but each side waited for the other to 
cease, though both had been ordered to do so. The shots 



A DARING BXPIvOlT. 43 

grew less frequent, until only here and there was seen 
the flash of a musket, while the bullet as a rule sped wide 
of its mark. But it occasionally happened that three or 
four men would accidentally fire at the same moment. 
This gave the impression that the battle had commenced 
again, and in a moment the fire would rage along the 
front of both lines. 

This desultory and fitful work continued until the 
twinkling lanterns showed that the surgeons and burying 
parties were looking up the dead and wounded between 
the lines. Then by common consent all firing ceased and 
the forces withdrew. In recalling this singular engage- 
ment, Mr. McKinley said: 

'Tt will not soon be forgotten. It was a brilliant scene; 
the heavens were fairly illuminated by the flashes of our 
ov/n and the enemy's guns. Later, when both armies 
determined to retire, it became my duty to direct a regi- 
ment at some distance from others to move. A stranger 
in the darkness, I knew nothing of that country. When 
I started on my mission some one on the otlier side was 
doing just vvhat I was, as I could tell from v/hat I heard. 
I had not gone far when I was halted by a sentinel with 
'Who comes thar?' The distinct Southern brogue was 
Vv^arning, and I hastened the other way. Very soon I was 
stopped with 'Who comes there?' and I recognized 
friends. I gave the countersign and soon had the regi- 
ment movin,^." 

General Grant was so annoyed by the raids of the 
Confederates in this section that he determined to end 
them, because they interfered with his main and closing 
campaign against Richmond. The government united 
the departments of Western Virginia, Washington and 
the Susquehanna and placed it under the command of 
General Sheridan, who was given a force of forty thoiv- 



44 A DARING EXPLOIT. 

sand men. He was anxious to move, but Grant held him 
on the defensive for a time, finally telling him to go ahead, 
provided he so desolated the valley that it could no longer 
be a temptation for raids from either side. 

Early's force was now inferior to Sheridan's, and the 
two leaders watched each other for a time from opposite 
sides of the Opequan, a small stream flowing into the 
Potomac, west of the Shenandoah. Finally the Confed- 
erate leader sent a division toward Martinsburg and 
threatened the Union right. Without delay Sheridan 
crossed and attacked Early's right. The Confederate 
division just sent off was hastily recalled and a savage 
battle imme'.ately opened. 

Everythiifg pointed to a Confederate victory, when 
Sheridan I< "i one of his headlong charges, which scattered 
the enemj like chaff. Through Winchester they rushed 
and scrambled, with the Union cavalry slashing at their 
heels. General Rodes was killed and 2,500 prisoners were 
gathered up, including five pieces of artillery and nine 
stands of colors. In making his report, General Sheri- 
dan used the forceful declaration that he had sent Early 
"whirling through Winchester." When tired of chasing 
the enemy, the Unionists drew off, and Early, gathering 
the remnants of his command, took position on Fisher's 
Hill. Although strongly intrenched, he was soon at- 
tacked by Sheridan again and driven further up the val- 
ley. Then reinforcements arrived for him and he felt 
secure in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Captain McKinley distinguished himself at Opequan. 
It was Hayes' brigade which led the charge that turned 
an impending defeat into a splendid victory. Before this 
was insured, and the issue looked doubtful, McKinley, 
who was acting as aide-de-camp on Sheridan's staff, car- 
ried a verbal order to Colonel Duval to shift his troops 



A DARING EXPI^OIT. 43 

with all possible speed to a position on the right of the 
Sixth Corps. Knowing nothing of the country, he asked 
McKinley: 

''What route shall I take to move my command?" 

Captain McKinley knew no more of the topography of 
the country than the colonel, but he cast his eye over all 
that was visible. It was of the most unfavorable charac- 
ter, and having no definite orders from his superior he 
suggested that the colonel should follow the route by the 
creek near them. 

'That won't do," was the reply of Duval; "I shall stay 
right where I am until I receive definite orders." 

The emergency was a grave one, and McKinley, with 
his intuitive perception of the right thing to do, said : 

"I order you, colonel, by command of General Crook, 
to move your command up this ravine to a position on 
the right of the army." 

This was all Colonel Duval could ask. Like a true 
soldier, he moved promptly, his division quickly reached 
its position, and gave invaluable help in driving the enemy 
from his intrenchments. 

Now, this incident is more important than would be 
supposed. It was no guesswork on the part of Captain 
McKinley that caused him to select the route, for meagre 
as was his knowledge of the surrounding country he 
knew it was the only course to be followed. This v/as 
proven by what befell another officer, who had been or- 
dered to take his command to the same point, and being 
left free to choose his route became entangled in the 
dense woods and did not arrive until long after Duval. 

Had McKinley erred and sent the regiment by any 
other route the consequences to himself would have been 
serious, but, us his commander smilingly remarked, the 
action of the captaLi was right because it succeeded. 



46 A DARING BXPI^OIT. 

Having freed the valley for a time from the enemy, 
Sheridan proceeded to carry out Grant's wishes, and so 
devastated the section that it was made untenable for the 
Confederates. Meanwhile Early was watching the Union 
forces, and followed them at a safe distance, until once 
more he was at Fisher's Hill. The Unionists intrenched 
themselves on the north bank of Cedar Creek, the ground 
from the north shore of the Shenandoah to the valley 
pike being held by Crook's division, in which served Cap- 
tain McKinley and his comrades from Ohio. 

The War for the Union had now reached a point where 
every one saw that the end must soon come. Grant had 
his grip on Richmond and could not be shaken ofif. Sher- 
man was plungmg through the core of the Confederacy 
from Atlanta to the sea, and Sheridan's whirlwind fight- 
ing had made him one of the three foremost leaders of 
the Union hosts with whom Grant was glad to consult, 
and whose suggestions were attentively listened to by the 
government. It was while the military situation in the 
Shenandoah Valley was as described that Sheridan was 
summoned to Washington to consult as tO' the future of 
the campaign in that section. He obeyed orders, and the 
consultation being finished, he set out on his return and 
slept at Winchester, a dozen miles from his command. 

While there a courier arrived from the front with word 
that all was quiet, and that one of the Union corps had 
been ordered to make a reconnoissance at daylight the 
next morning (October 19). Sheridan lay down and slept 
undisturbed. 

Who has not had his pulses quickened by T. Buchanan 
Read's vigorous war poem, "Sheridan's Ride," which 
tells of the Union leader's furious gallop from Winchester 
to Cedar Creek when the distant boom of cannon warned 
him the "battle was on once more?" While there is a 



A DARING EXPLOIT. 47 

Strong* basis of truth for the poem, yet, Hke "Barbara 
Fretche,'' it has been somewhat ideahzecl by the poet. 

When Sheridan awoke from sleep on the morning of 
October 9, 1864, he heard sounds of irregular firing in 
the distance, but thought little of it. In truth, the people 
of Winchester would have deemed it strange if there 
wasn't firing to a greater or less degree all the time. He 
ate his breakfast, mounted his splendid black steed and 
started out of Winchester at an easy gallop; but had not 
gone far when he came upon sights that caused apprehen- 
sion. Stragglers and baggage wagons appeared, and in 
answer to his inquiries he was told that the Union troops 
had met with serious disaster. By and by the road was so 
choked with baggage wagons and wounded men that 
progress was difficult, and Sheridan turned into the fields 
and struck his horse into a swifter pace. Then when the 
highway became more open, and he returned to it, only to 
be stirred to indignation by sights of uninjured men, who, 
having fled beyond danger, were grouped along both 
sides of the road, boiling cofifee and cooking their break- 
fwt. 

The black steed was now thundering down the high- 
way, and the rider was aflame with the spirit of battle. 
Eight miles south of Winchester he passed through New- 
town, where he met the first body of organized troops he 
had seen since leaving Winchester. Captain McKinley had 
been working with might and main to rally them and had 
just succeeded. 

"Where's Crook ?" demanded the fiery leader, and Cap- 
tain McKinley wheeled his horse, and accompanied by 
Sheridan set out tO' find him. The fire of conflict glowed 
in the eyes of the commander as he sped down the line 
with the disorganized troops, magnetized and thrilled by 



4S A DARING EXPLOIT. 

the sight, trailing in behind, eager to go back and retake 
what had been lost. 

"With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ; 
By the flash of his eye and his nostrils' play 
He seemed to the whole great army to say, 
*I have brought you Sheridan all the way 
From Winchester town to save the day/ " 

"Never mind, boys," called Sheridan, "we'll whip them 
yet ! We shall sleep in our quarters to-night !" 

The men threw their hats in air, cheered and dashed 
after their leader, who made his way to the front of the 
line, accompanied by Captain McKinley, where Generals 
Wright and Crook were met, the events of the m.orning 
quickly told and orders issued which resulted in one of the 
most dashing and brilliant successes of the war. 



CHAPTER V. 

DEFEAT OF THE UNION TROOPS AT FISHER's HILL — THE 
''whirlwind in spurs'' A ROUT TURNED INTO DE- 
CISIVE VICTORY END OF THE WAR SUMMARY OF 

m'kINLEY's military SERVICES MUSTERED OUT A 

STUDENT AT LAW — ADMISSION TO THE BAR — WAITING 
FOR CLIENTS. 

The Confederates at Fisher's Hill swept intO' the Union 
camp like a cyclone. It was believed that if any attack 
were made it would be upon the Union right, which ac- 
cordingly was strengthened at the expense of the left. The 
alert Early discovered this, and, in the darkness of night, 
stealthily secured a position on the rear of the left, where 
the Ohio troops were sleeping in fancied security. The 
first streakings of light were dimly showing in the eastern 
horizon, when a savage fire was opened on the left and 
rear. The men leaped up from their blankets, but were 
swept back by the yelling enemy, who captured nearly all 
of the pickets and sent the rest scurrying toward Middle- 
town. Eighteen of the Union guns were seized and 
turned on the fleeing Federals, who fled in a wild stam- 
pede. 

Everything was going the way of the Confederates, and 
they had only to press their advantage to complete the 
overthrow of the panic-smitten camp, but, like all who 
yield to temptation, their blunder proved fatal. The 
abundant food and refreshment v<:Quld not be resisted. 
Leaving the fugitives to keep up their flight, the famish- 
ing enemy stopped short, ate, drank and made merr/. 



50 ADMISSION TO THS BAR. 

General Early himself was a roystering, reckless man, 
whose troops showed poor discipline, and he could do 
little with his men when their inclinations ran contrary 
to his orders. 

General Wright did all in his power to stay the flight of 
his troops, and by extraordinary exertions secured a 
strong position several miles to the north of the Union 
cam.p, where some of the fugitives were rallied aroimd 
him. An attack vv^as speedily made upon him, but the 
Confederates who were brought from their feasting and 
drinking were so few and broken that they were repulsed 
with severe loss. 

It was shortly after this that General Sheridan arrived 
on the field, dusty, perspiring, but eager and determined 
to lead the soldiers back to Fisher's Hill and settle ac- 
counts in his terrific fashion with General Early and his 
men. 

The magnetism of the "whirlwind in spurs** was resist- 
less, and they went at their work with a hurrah. Early 
had seen the peril gathering, and lost no time in establish- 
ing his men behind stone walls and every shelter obtaina- 
ble. They fought desperately, but nothing could stay the 
impetuous dash of the Union troops, who drove every- 
thing before them and turned a rout into one of the most 
brilliant successes of the war. 

The flying Confederates thought of nothing but escape 
from the shouting foes at their heels. Wagons and pris- 
oners were abandoned, guns thrown aside, and all joined 
in a wild stampede that was continued until scores of the 
fugitives dropped from exhaustion, and their tired pursu- 
ers drew off and gave up the chase. Sheridan withdrew 
to Kernstown, where the lines were fortified and every- 
thing rendered safe against any possible attack from the 
enemy. 



ADMISSION TO THE BAR. SI 

So utter was the overthrow of the Confederates that 
they were unable to again do anything in the Shenandoah 
Valley during the remainder of the war. General Lee was 
so affected by the disgraceful failure of Early that though 
he was one of the Confederate Heutenant-generals he was 
relieved of command. 

One of the proudest remembrances of McKinley is the 
gallant part he took in this picturesque and decisive vic- 
tory. It was on the recommendation of General Sheridan 
that he was promoted as brevet-m.ajor of the United States 
volunteers ''for gallant and meritorious services at the 
battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill." Since 
this was the last promotion he had an opportunity of win- 
ning, the title of ''Major McKinley" is the military one 
by which he will always be known. Who can doubt that 
if the war had continued a year or more longer the golden 
Btars of a brigadier or major-general would have shone 
upon his shoulders? 

A few weeks after the battle of Fisher's Hill the Con- 
federate cavalry made a dash against the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railway at New Creek, West Virginia, and General 
Crook was sent thither with one of his divisions. His ad- 
miration for the brilliant young Ohio officer caused him 
to take him along ; but matters went awry with Crook, and 
the enemy included him among a number of prisoners 
taken. General Hancock was placed in command of the 
department, and retained McKinley on his staff. He re- 
mained with Hancock, faithfully meeting and discharg- 
ing every duty until assigned as assistant adjutant-general 
on the staff of General Carroll, commander of the veteran 
reserve corps at Washington. 

The last days of the Southern Confederacy were at 
hand. Like a wounded lion, General Lee had turned at 
bay behind the trenches at Petersburg, and his decimated 



5a ADMISSION TO THB BAR. 

but brave army was making a gallant fight that could not 
save but only prolong the death of the Lost Cause. On 
the first of April, 1865, Grant opened a cannonade along 
his entire front, and the following day broke the Confed- 
erate line in several places; then the whole Confederate 
front was assailed, and Lee and his army fled southward. 
He telegraphed what was impending to Jefferson Davis 
while he was sitting in his pew at church, and the Confed- 
erate president saw that Richmond, which had withstood 
all assaults for four years, was doomed. Davis and the 
leaders of the Confederacy hastily gathered a few effects 
together and sped swiftly away on a railway train. Then, 
until the arrival of the Union troops, the once proud city 
was given over to its own spoilers, v/ho plundered, burned 
and made Richmond for a time like hades itself. 

Lee continued retreating with his starving soldiers, but 
at Appomattox Court House he v/as compelled to see that 
the last ray of hope had vanished. There, on the ninth of 
April, 1865, he surrendered what was left of the Army of 
Northern Virginia, the long, bloody war came to an end 
and the Union was restored. 

Amid the general rejoicing, the speechmaking, the 
burning of bonfires and the thunders of salute, every heart 
suddenly «tood still, hushed by the crack of the assassin's 
pistol that sent a ball through the brain of President Lin- 
coln. 

Happiness was turned to horror and mourning, and the- 
whole world was shocked by the appalling crime. 

Little did William McKinley suppose, as he joined in 
the universal mourning that, in the years to come, he, too, 
was destined to pass through a crucial period in the coun- 
try's history as its President, and finally die in like man- 
ner at the hands of an assassin when vv^ar had given place 
to peace and prosperity. 



ADMISSION TO THE BAR. S3 

The embers of the civil war still smoked and smoul- 
dered. General Johnston surrendered to General Sher- 
man April 26, and Dick Taylor, commanding the remain- 
der of the Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, made 
submission in May, as did all the naval forces of the Con- 
federacy, then blockaded in the Tombigbee River. There 
was fitful fighting here and there, and some of the hu- 
miliated leaders fled from the country, but the war was 
over and soon blessed peace reigned everywhere. 

It is interesting to note that in November, 1864, Major 
McKinley cast his first vote. Lincoln and Johnson had 
been nominated for the highest two offices. The feeling 
was so strong that the brave patriots who were doing the 
fighting in the field should be allowed to express their 
wishes by ballot that a law was passed giving them such 
right, and their vote formed an important factor in de- 
ciding that memorable election. 

It will be recalled that the Union army to which Mc- 
Kinley was attached was moving northward at the time. 
j\n ambulance did duty as an election booth, and the votes 
were collected and counted by the judges of election while 
the soldiers were on the march. Besides McKinley, Gen- 
erals Crook, Sheridan and Hayes cast their ballots, and 
in the case of Crook and Sheridan it is said that it was 
the first time either voted. 

The mustering out of the Union soldiers began and 
continued for several months. The total number fur- 
nished during the war was 2,778,304, and the cost of pre- 
serving the Union was 67,058 killed in battle, 43.012 who 
died of wounds, and 199,720 who perished from disease, 
with 40,154 who died from other causes, making an awful 
total of 349,944 deaths in one of the greatest wars of mod- 
ern times. 

Then the armed hosts dissolved like snow in the sun, 



54 ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 

The bronzed veterans laid aside sword and musket and 
became peaceful, law-abiding citizens of the republic, and 
the sun as it rolled through the heavens looked down and 
smiled on the greatest people upon which it ever shone. 

In closing the account of William McKinley's services 
as a soldier of his country, it is proper to place on record 
a summary of his patriotic work which made him a sea- 
soned veteran at the age of twenty-two years and stamped 
him as one of the bravest patriots who wore the blue in 
that mighty struggle for the life of the nation. 

With his regiment, or while on staff duty, he fought in 
West Virginia, in the Army of the Potomac under Mc- 
Clellan and in the Shenandoah Valley under Sheridan, 
He was in all the early fights in West Virginia, at South 
Mountain and Antietam, his first battle being Camifex 
Ferry, September lo, 1861. Fearless and without re- 
proach he fought at Townsend's Ferry, November 6; at 
Laurel Hill, November 12; Camp Creek, May i, 1862; 
New River, May 6 ; Pack's Ferry, New River, August 6 ; 
in support of Pope's army, August 15; battle of South 
Mountain, September 14; Antietam, September 16 and 
17; Cloyd's Mountain, May 9, 1864; Buffalo Gap, June 
6; Lexington, June 10; Otter Creek, June 16; Lynchburg, 
June 17; Liberty, June 19; Buford Gap, June 20; Salem, 
June 21; Sweet Sulphur Springs, June 25; in the cam- 
paign against Early, July 14 to November 28; skirmish 
at Cabletown, July 19; fight at Snicker's Ferry, July 21 ; 
Winchester and Kernstown, July 23 and 24 ; Martinsburg, 
July 25 ; Berryville, September 3 ; battle of Winchester, 
September 19 ; Fisher's Hill, September 22 ; skirmish at 
New Market, October 7 ; Cedar Creek, October 19, mak- 
ing in all more than thirty battles and skirmishes, and at 
the very front from beginning to end. When mustered 
out, July 26, 1865, after more than four years of continu- 



ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 55 

ous service, he had not missed a day's duty or a fight. As 
a private soldier, he learned how to follow and obey, and 
as an officer he learned how to lead where only the brav- 
est dare follow. The weak, thin stripling of eighteen had 
become a bronzed veteran, active, strong, with robust 
health, a mind matured and the foundations of a brilliant, 
useful and illustrious career laid, broad, firm and lasting. 
Physically and mentally, his training had approached as 
near perfection as it is possible to attain in this world, and 
he was now become an American in the truest sense of 
the word. 

Tlie end of the great war saw a million men who had 
been supported by the government thrown upon their own 
resources. They had been consumers, and now they must 
be producers. In other words, they must earn their own 
living. 

And they did it, like the true heroes they were. Back 
they went into the workshop, the counting house, upon 
the farm, at the book-keeper's desk, in the counting-room, 
on the railways and steamboat lines, to the different trades 
and professions, until ere long it was hard to understand 
where the vast array of soldiers had gone and what had 
become of them. 

Hundreds of men made fortunes during the war. Not 
only the contractors, but the officers took advantage of 
their situations and carried home enormous sums of 
money, to which they had no rightful claim. But the ma- 
jority were honest. Had Major McKinley chosen, he 
could have returned to his friends and people in Poland a 
rich man ; but his integrity and Christian principles never 
allowed him to be tempted to take a penny that did not 
unquestionably belong to him. The veteran greeted his 
proud father and mother and brothers and sisters with 



56 ADMISSION TO THE BAR.. 

only the meagre wages that had been paid tO' him by the 
government for services rendered. 

Like the vast multitude, he had to decide by what 
means he should earn his clothing and bread and butter. 

More than one prominent military man v/ho had 
watched his career urged him to stay in the army. His 
merits and ability were certain to win promotion and hon- 
ors, and his future would be secure. He felt himself too 
old to enter college, even had he possessed the means to 
complete his course, v/hich he did not. His inclination 
was strong to remain in the military service, but after 
mature deliberation he put the temptation, behind him 
and decided to take up the study of the law, for which he 
had a natural aptitude and a strong liking. He loved 
study, was fond of debate, possessed what may be termed 
a legal mind, and circumstances seemed to favor his 
wishes. 

Judge Charles E. Glidden, whom he held in the highest 
esteem for his great attainments and m.any excellencies of 
character, had his office in Youngstown, with David M. 
Wilson as his partner, and he gladly welcomed the bright 
young veteran as one of his students. 

Major McKinley did not hesitate tO' renew the vast 
draughts upon his constitution, necessitated by hours of 
hard study continued far into the night ; for he possessed 
an iron frame, perfect health and ran no such risks as 
when a weak stripling at Allegheny College a few years 
before. Twice a week he walked to Youngstown to re- 
cite to Judge Glidden or Mr. Wilson, and made rapid and 
thorough progress. Full of American pluck, he realized 
the necessity of hard, persevering application to win suc- 
cess. There is no royal road to learning, and he knew it. 

Nature had gifted him with a pleasing address, and his 
ability as a speaker was fully recognized. He acquitted 



ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 57 

himself well and was proud of the honor that was his of 
delivering the address at the dedication of the soldiers' 
monument in his old home. And his neighbors were 
equally proud of the young patriot, who had been bap- 
tized in the flame of battle and gone brilliantly through 
the war from its opening to its triumphant conclusion. 

At the end of a year a serious problem confronted Mc- 
Kinley. He was poor and would not allow his parents to 
deny themselves comforts and necessities for his sake. He 
could complete his course of study, but in the nature of 
things, would not be able to earn a living for several years 
to come. He asked himself whether it was not his duty 
to enter upon a business career, for the sake of the sup- 
port thus obtainable, while still pursuing his legal studies 
as best he could. It would cost him a pang, thus to shelve 
his ambition for an indefinite period, and, sorely per- 
plexed, he did that which every boy or young man is 
fortunate in possessing the privilege of doing. He went 
to his elder sister Annie for counsel, just as he had done 
before, knowing that her advice would be unselfish and 
for the best. He had found it so in the past and was sure 
\ to find it unchanged to the end. 

^ Annie was teaching school at Canton. Faithful and 
talented, she was devoted to her work and was eminently 
successful. She had saved a little money, and when she 
heard the words of her brother and saw his perplexity, 
she promptly said : 

"You must not think of giving up your studies." 

The brother suggested his lack of funds and his un- 
willingness to be a burden upon the other members of the 
family. 

"It will be no sacrifice," she said; "or if it be consid- 
ered such, we can share it among ourselves and the bur- 



58 ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 

den will hardly be felt. Yes, William, you must keep up 
your studies without intermission." 

And then the skillful mathematician demonstrated to the 
happy brother how readily the whole difficulty could be 
overcome. Willing to be convinced of the possibility of 
obtaining that which was so near to his heart, the happy 
youth consented. He went to Albany and entered the 
Ohio Law School, one of the finest institutions of its kind 
in the West. 

It need not be said that with every incentive to spur him 
on, he gave all his remarkable energies of mind and body 
to the work, with the inevitable result that two years after 
his return from war he was admitted to the bar and fairly 
launched upon the career that was to bring him fame and 
honors of which he did not dream. 

Taking counsel once more from his wise and self-sacri- 
ficing sister, he changed his home to Canton, Ohio, en- 
gaged a modest office in the rear of an antiquated build- 
ing on the site of the present Stark County courthouse, 
hung out his shingle, delved into his law books and hope- 
fully awaited the coming of the most indispensable need 
of every lawyer — clients. 



59 



CHAPTER VI. 

LAWYER m'kINLEY S FIRST CASE — A BOW-LEGGED COM- 
PLAINANT'S DISCOMFITURE m'KINLEY ELECTED PROS- 
ecuting attorney the case of mark hanna 

Mckinley's marriage — a congressman at thirty- 
four. 

Lawyer McKinley sat in his little office and waited for 
ttie clients who seemed to take a long- time to find out 
the value of his services. He continued his legal studies, 
improving the minutes and hours, for he knew that the 
foundations of his profession can never be laid too broad- 
ly, carefully and surely. Meanwhile, he would not have 
been displeased if some of the people in need of legal as- 
sistance had chosen to test his ability. 

Such a brilliant record as young McKinley had made 
in the war proved of help in several respects. The promi- 
nent people in Canton spoke admiringly of his military 
career and sought his acquaintance. His unaffected, 
modest bearing, and his even, genial disposition added to 
his popularity and the number of his friends continually 
increased. 

Russell, the biographer of McKinley, says that Judge 
Belden, one of the leading advocates of the county, occu- 
pied a fine office on the front of the same building with 
McKinley. He admired the personality of the young at- 
torney, and determined to throw what business he could 
in his way, though McKinley took pains never to hint 
any wish of the kind. 

One day the judge dropped into the humble rear office 



6o LAWYER M'KINLEY'S FIRST CASE. 

with the remark that he was not feeHng well. McKinley 
looked up and expressed his sympathy, though he saw no 
alarming evidences of death in the appearance of his vis- 
itor. 

"I believe I shall go home and rest; here are the papers 
in a case that comes up to-morrow; I can't attend to it; 
you must do it for me." 

McKinley looked over the papers and made inquiries. 
He saw that it was what is termed a replevin case of ap- 
peal, of such doubtful issue that the judge admitted he had 
little hope of winning. The young man, with something 
like dismay, said: 

"Really, I can't take the case, judge; it is wholly new 
to me; the time is too short to prepare myself, and 
besides, I have never yet tried a case." 

"Well, there must be a first case with every lawyer, 
provided he ever has any cases, and you may as well be- 
gin with this. I shall leave it in your hands," said the 
judge, bidding him good day and passing out. 

McKinley was almost overwhelmed. Had the judge 
permitted, he would have declined the business so kindly 
offered, but he felt it would be a test of his mettle, and, as 
was the rule of his life, he determind to do the best he 
could. Locking himself in his office, he studied through 
the entire night. By morning all the details had crystal- 
lized in his mind. He snatched a brief nap, went to court 
and presented the case with such forcible clearness that 
he won the decision. 

When Judge Beldon next met him, he brought a blush 
to the face of McKinley by the warmth of his compli- 
ments. At the same time, he put twenty-five dollars in 
his hand. 

"Why, judge, I can't accept so much as that for one 
day's work," 



LAWYER M'KINLEV'S FIRST CASE. 6x 

"I don't see any cause for worry," was the good-nr - 
cured reply of the judge, "inasmuch as my retainer v/as 
a hundred dollars." 

Judge Belden was so well pleased with his young friend 
that shortly after he made him a partner. The partner- 
ship brought great success, and was not broken until the 
death of Judge Belden in 1870. 

All successful lawyers delight in recalling their early 
struggles, when their pleadings over some petty cixse be- 
fore a justice of the peac^ were made with as nmoh fervor 
and eloquence as if the fate of the Union v,;as at stake. 
Sometimes the result was defeat, but wheu an old lawyer 
is left free to select his reminiscences, thtf victories which 
he relates are sure to be largely in the majority. The 
quaint incidents often tinged with hirrr'.or are alvv^ays inter- 
esting;". 

Shortly after McKinley became a partner of Judge 
Belden he was asked to defend a surgeon, against whom 
suit had been brought by a man w^iose broken leg he had 
set. 

The suit was for malpractice, tht complainant insisting 
that through the fault of the surgeon the injured leg had 
grown awry, and, so far as that particular branch of his 
anatomy was concerned, he was shamefully bowlegged. 

One of the most brilliant members of the Ohio bar was 
the counsel of the complainant, who demanded heavy 
damages. He brought his client into court, and in the 
presence of the jury asked him to bare the leg that had 
been maltreated. He obeyed and held up the twisted limb 
for inspection, his looks plainly asking: 

"Did you ever see anything worse than that?" 

There was no mistake about it. No owner of such a 
leg could ever take any pride in it, for it was bowed 
frightfully. 



62 LAWYER M'KINIvBY'S FIRST CASE. 

"There, gentlemen of the jury," roared the lawyer; "is 
the evidence which even my learned friend on the other 
side cannot question ; there is the convincing proof of the 
negligence or incompetency of the surgeon who has de- 
stroyed forever the symmetry of my client's perfect limb, 
besides injuring him for life. I am sure that you intelli- 
gent gentlemen will give my client the only remedy pos- 
sible, and which can never fully compensate him for his 
sufferings and loss, but may serve to teach the medical 
men that a poor patient is entitled to the same skill and 
considerate treatment that are given to the millionaire 
and the man who is ready to pay a liberal fee for services/^ 

When the lawyer finished his soul-stirring appeal he 
sat down, and with an air of triumph, looked across to 
McKinley, as if wondering whether he would dare open 
his mouth in the way of reply; but McKinley had been 
using his eyes. He noticed that the client's other trou- 
sers' leg was folded and arranged in a peculiar manner. 
When, therefore, the complainant was turned over to him 
for cross-examination, McKinley said in a voice of brisk 
command: "Bare the other leg!" 

"I object!" interposed his lawyer; "the other leg is not 
in the case; we claim damages for the one that has been 
virtually destroyed, as the jury and your honor have ob- 
served for yourselves." 

"The request of the counsel is reasonable and proper; 
the witness will bare the leg as counsel has directed." 
There was no help for it, and much to the disgust of 

the opposing counsel, his client slowly and shamefacedly 
drew up the other trousers' leg. 

Instantly jurors and spectators broke into laughter, for, 
lo! the second leg was more twisted and "out of plumb" 
than the first. The complainant had skillfully concealed 



lyAWYER M'KINLKY'S FIRST CASK. 63 

the fact from every one except the alert McKi- ley. The 
latter gravely rose to his feet, and when the merriment 
had subsided, said: 

"Nature seems to have done less for this man than my 
client; I move that the suit be dismissed with the recom- 
mendation that the complainant have his other leg broken 
and set by my client, the surgeon." 

Stark County seemed to be of the rock-ribbed Democ- 
racy persuasion. When a Republican took the nomina- 
tion for office, it was regarded as an empty honor, the 
principal question being as to how large a majority his 
i opponent would roll up against him. When, therefore, in 

• 1869, McKinley was nominated for prosecuting attorney, 
he himself had little expectation of winning, though he 
hoped that the additional prominence might prove ulti- 
mately of advantage in his profession. His opponent had 
already held the office, but McKinley took the stump, 
threw all his energies into the campaign, and, to the as- 
tonishment of every one, was elected. He served two 
years, was renominated, and came within a few votes of 
being re-elected. 

Mark A. Hanna, of Cleveland, was owner of extensive 
I mining interests in Stark County, and naturally was in- 
i volved now and then in trouble with his employees over 
^ the question of wages. A number quit work, passions be- 
came inflamed, and there was considerable destruction of 
property. Twenty-three of the ringleaders were arrested 
and brought to trial. Their friends secured McKinley to 
defend them. He pleaded their cause with such force and 
;| eloquence that, with a single exception, all were ac- 

• quitted. 

The ability of the young lawyer attracted the attention 
of l^.Tr. y~^r^v,^'\ vho zovp'^-'^f his acnti?!nt2iice. 



64 I^AWYER M'KINLEY'S FIRST CASH. 






"McKinley," said he, ''there was only one possibly hi- 
nocent man in that whole group." 

''Which was he?" asked the lawyer. 

"The one you failed to have acquitted." 

A strong friendship was formed between McKinley 
and Hanna, and every one knows of the immeasurable 
help the capitalist rendered the Republican candidate ii: 
the national campaign of 1896. 

McKinley won success at the bar because he deserved 
it and pursued the only path by which real success can be 
attained in this life. He was thoroughly grounded in his 
profession, and, when he took a case, he devoted the ut- 
most ability he possessed to the interests of his client. He 
studied all the points and looked upon nothing as too in- 
significant for serious attention. The poor man received 
as conscientious service as the millionaire client, and the 
impoverished widow and orphan found in him a friend 
who cheerfully did all he could to secure their rights. 

His reputation as a public speaker increased. He al- 
ways showed an intelligent interest in politics. When 
Congressman R. B. Hayes became a candidate for Gov- 
ernor, McKinley took the stump for him. It was at the 
time of what is remembered as the "greenback craze." 
The greenbackers insisted that the entire bonded debt 
of the Government should be paid in greenbacks instead 
of coin, while their opponents, represented by Hayes, fa- 
vored what was known as sound money or coin. McKin- 
lev contributed much to the success of Hayes in his 
Gubernatorial campaign. 

McKinley would have been an exception to the rule 
with all bright, sensible and good young men, had he 
failed to fall in love long before the incidents which we 
have been relating. James A. Saxton was a banker, capi- 
•talist and one of the most prominent men in the flourish- 



lyAWYBR M'KINLHY'S FIRST CASH. 65 

ing town of Canton. His daughter Ida was born in June, 
1847, ^^<^ received every care and educational advantage. 
She inherited great strength of character, marked busi- 
ness abihty, and a bright, sunshiny disposition. She was 
graduated from Media Seminary at the age of sixteen, and 
her father, in order to give her an excellent business 
training, took her as his assistant in his bank, where she 
aided him for three years. 

It is said that the parent was actuated by several mo- 
tives in pursuing this somewhat unusual course, for 
young ladies who are heiresses are the last ones in all the 
world to seek or wish to support themselves. He desired 
her to be independent, and he was so deeply attached to 
her, and so sensible at the same time of her accomplish- 
ments and attractions, that he thought with sorrow of the 
likelihood of losing her through marriage. Recognizing 
at the same time the almost ab:->olute certainty of such an 
event, he determined to keep her by him through the 
most susceptible years of her young womanhood, so as to 
lessen the danger of her making an ill-advised match. 
She matured into a sweet, beautiful woman, of many ac- 
complishments, and all the virtues that belong to her sex. 

At the end of her three years in the bank she took a six 
months' vacation, going abroad with her sister and a 
number of friends under the care of one of her former 
teachers. When she returned and was a social favorite in 
Canton, William McKinley, just elected prosecuting at- 
torney of the county, quickly became one of her most de- 
voted admirers. He had many rivals, and, like all true 
love*s, was in doubt at times whether he really had any 
ground for hope. She was the teacher of a large Bible 
class in the First Presbyterian Church, while McKinley 
was superintendent of the Sunday school of the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Naturally they found it 



66 lyAWYER M'KINLKY'S FIRST CASE. 

convenient to make their short journeys together, in 
going to and returning from their Sunday duties. They 
were congenial in their natures, there was always much 
to say about the sacred work in which they were engaged, 
and the tender attachment between them all in good time 
ripened into love. Other suitors saw how matters were 
going and stepped aside in favor of the rising young law- 
yer, who when he proposed marriage was accepted. Upon 
asking the consent of the father, he was ansv/ered by a 
prompt affirmative, with the hearty remark that Mc- 
Kinley was the only young man the parent knew to whom 
he would intrust his daughter. They were married Jan- 
uary 25, 1 871. 

One loves to linger on the beautiful and touching pic- 
ture of the married Hfe of this couple, who are as much 
lovers to-day as when they stood before the altar in Can- 
ton and were made man and wife. Sorrows came to 
them. Within the space of a few months, the mother of 
Mrs. McKinley and her own two little children — all that 
were ever born to her — were removed by death. Of deli- 
cate health from childhood, these afflictions made her a 
permanent invalid. 

But as domestic grief shadowed the household, it 
brought the husband and wife closer together. She be- 
lieved she had the best and noblest man ever born for 
her life partner, while there was never a doubt in his 
mind that he was the most favored of men in being 
blessed with such a wife. They were never willingly sep- 
arated for more than the briefest possible period, and 
when obliged to part for a time, the telegraph always kept 
each informed of the other's welfare. There was no wait- 
ing for the slow-going mails, where such love held reign. 

It was because of his tender and reverential affection 
for his invalid wife that McKinley shrank from accepting 



I^AWYER M'KINLKY'S FIRST CASE. 67 

the additional public offices that by and by were offered 
to him. Could he have followed his own feeling-s, he 
would have turned his back upon them all, lest the exact- 
ing duties might deprive his wife of a part of the attention 
it was his highest pleasure to lavish upon her. 

It was Mrs. McKinley herself who caused him to 
change his mind. Each believed the other the wisest of 
his or her kind, and when she argued that it was his 
duty to give his talents and integrity to the people, he 
was convinced while she helped with such practical ad- 
vice and assistance that he was encouraged in following 
a path that was by no means strewed at all times with 
roses. Thus she has always been his good angel, and the 
tender, reverential devotion between the two has been a 
lesson in conjugal felicity than v^^hich no sweeter was ever 
known. 

McKinley's success at the bar, his impressiveness as a 
public speaker, and his captivating personality, made him 
a power not only in the county but throughout his native 
State. Before long his name was mentioned in connec- 
tion with Congress, and when he consented to become a 
candidate, he received the nomination on the first ballot, 
over all his rivals, of whom there were a number. So 
great was the esteem in which he was held that these 
rivals, although naturally disappointed at first, turned to 
and became the most ardent workers for his success. At 
the age of thirty-four he was elected to Congress, it being 
the centennial year of our independence. 

There is little opportunity, as a rule, for a new Con- 
gressman to display his ability, no matter how marked it 
may be. The Speaker assigns him to an inferior place on 
some unimportant committee, and, if he is wise, he de- 
votes most of his time to informing himself, listening, and, 
as the common expression goes, "learning the ropes." 



68 LAWYER M'KINLBY'S FIRST CASE. 

Mr. McKinley had made a profound study of economic 
questions, and by speaking only when he deemed it his 
duty, and when fully prepared, soon came to be known 
as a sensible member, who spoke because he had some- 
thing to say. His judgment was so clear, and he was so 
astonishingly well informed that he was often consulted 
by other members, and never did he fail tO' give interest- 
ing information. 

Among those who were attracted by the brilliancy of 
the new member from Ohio was James G. Blaine, the 
Maine statesman. Their views on public questions were 
similar, and Blaine invited him to visit his State and help 
in the October elections. In his "Twenty Years in Con- 
gress" Mr. Blaine gives the following tribute to the sub- 
ject of this biography: 

''William McKinley, Jr., entered from the Canton dis- 
trict. He enlisted in an Ohio regiment when but seven- 
teen years old, and soon won the rank of major by meri- 
torious services. The interests of his constituency and 
his own bent of mind led him to the study of industrial 
questions, and he was soon recognized in the House as 
one of the most thorough statisticians and one of the 
blest defenders of the doctrine of protection." 



■'■'r'f 



CHAPTER VIL 

'^gerrymandering'" — m'kinley's re-election to con- 
gress THE TARIFF FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION — ■ 

m'kINLEY's DEFEAT HIS LOYALTY TO HIS FRIENDS 

HIS REFUSAL OF A DAZZLING HONOR HIS SENSE OF 

HONOR, 

The excellent record made by Major McKinley during 
his first term in Congress won the commendation of his 
constituents and his renomination followed quite as a 
matter of course. At the same time also it drew the at- 
tention of the Democrats, who decided that their interests 
demanded the defeat of so able an opponent. He was 
altogether too aggressive an enemy to be allowed to lead 
in the ranks of the opposition. 

The second Vice-President of the United States to die 
in office (George Clinton, serving with Madison, being 
the first) was Elbridge Gerry, who also served with Mad- 
ison. He had been a delegate to the Continental Con- 
gress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and 
one of the framers of the Constitution, though he refused 
to sign it. He was a member of Congress for several 
terms, and once saved himself from capture by the British 
by hiding in a cornfield. While Governor of Massachu- 
setts, in 1810 and 181 1, he set on foot the plan of redis- 
tricting the State for the benefit of his own political party. 
Because of this, the scheme was given the name of "gerry- 
mandering," and the dominant political parties have fol- 
lowed the unfair system ever since. Consequently, if it 



70 '^GERRYMANDERING.'* 

is to be censured, the censure belongs equally to Repub- 
licans as well as Democrats. 

When Major McKinley was renominated, the State 
Legislature was Democratic, and to bring about his de- 
feat, it resorted to gerrymandering. His new district in- 
cluded Stark, Wayne, Ashland and Portage counties, 
which were considered safe for nearly 2,000 majority, as 
they had proven in the previous elections. 

Major McKinley was not the man to be dismayed by 
the formidable, and, as many regarded it, hopeless task 
before him. He threw all his energies into the canvass, 
his friends rallied to his support, he spoke continuously, 
discussing the public questions from his point of view, "he 
gained recruits by the hundred, and when the votes came 
to be counted after the close of the polls, behold! he was 
re-elected by a majority of 1,300. It w^as one of the 
most decisive triumphs in a career marked by many suc- 
cesses and victories. 

As a Congressman, he grew rapidly in the estimation 
of his associates of both political parties, who could not 
fail to recognize his great ability, his vast resources of 
information, his comprehensive grasp of economical ques- 
tions, his impressive sincerity, his skill as a debater, and 
his unflinching integrity. 

Major McKinley was a candidate for a third term, in 
the national election of 1880, which placed James A. Gar- 
field in the Presidential chair. No single mxan contributed 
more to Garfield's success than McKinley, upon whom 
the calls for help in making speeches for the candidate 
were so numerous that his endurance was taxed to its 
utmost verge. With the superb physique due to his sol- 
dier's life, his temperance and careful habits, he bore the 
strain without a single breakdown, and in the Forty- 
seventh Congress took the place on the Ways and Means 



"GERRYMANDERING." 71 

Committee left by Garfield, and was accepted by all as 
one of the leaders of the House^ which had a Republican 
majority. 

The tariff question has been a subject of discussion 
and legislation in Congress almost from the foundations 
of the government, and no man can foresee when laws 
shall find a place on the statute books of so beneficent a 
nature as to be accepted by all and lay the question to 
rest. President McKinley's name will be forever remem- 
bered in connection with the cause of protection. He was 
its leading champion for years, and was firm in his belief 
that there should be a tariff on such imported articles as 
are similar to those manufactured in our own country. 
He contended that by placing a duty on such goods when 
brought from abroad, the im.porters could not afford to 
sell them at the low prices that would make the manu- 
facture of the same class of goods by Americans un- 
profitable. The wages paid to laborers abroad were, he 
argued, so lovv^ that unless duties were imposed, the for- 
eign manufacturers could sell their products here for prices 
that would compel oitr own manufacturers to close their 
mills. 

The friends of free trade, who would have abolished 
such duties, denied this, and claimed that the imposition 
of duties compelled the purchaser to pay higher prices for 
his goods, and, since the laborers were also consumers, 
they were obliged to pay this advance, thereby gaining no 
benefit through the operation of the tariff. 

This is not the place to discuss the question of tariff 
and free trade, for the ablest of men differ in their views. 
There is much to be said on both sides of the question, 
and the subject is one that demands careful study and 
thought. It was the tariff that caused the nullification 
movement in South Carolina in 1832, when that fiery 



71 "GERRYMANDERING." 

State threatened to withdraw from the Unioiio At that 
time the South had very few or no manufactures, and the 
result of the imposition of duties was that she was com- 
pelled to pay higher prices for the goods she needed than 
if free trade prevailed. She contended that the tariff 
benefited the North and injured the South, which was 
true. Henry Clay, the champion of the "American Sys- 
tem,^' helped to soothe the resentment of the South by se- 
curing the passage of laws that provided for a gradual 
lessening of the duties, though absolute free trade has 
never existed in this country. 

The year 1882 brought a Democratic landslide. Na- 
tional attention was drawn to Grover Cleveland by his 
stupendous success in being elected Governor of New 
York with a majority of 192,999, while his party were tri- 
umphant almost everywhere. Major McKinley's old dis- 
trict had been restored to him, and his success was se- 
cured by the trifling majority of eight votes. His Demo- 
cratic opponents contested the election. The question oc- 
cupied the attention of Congress throughout most of the 
session, during which McKinley retained his seat and ren- 
dered his party and country good service. In the end, 
however, the Democratic House unseated him in favor of 
his opponent. 

One of the most admirable traits in the character of the 
illustrious Grant was his loyalty to his friends. When he 
once gave his faith to a man nothing less than proof of 
unworthiness as clear as the sunlight could cause him to 
withdraw that faith, and when he did so he suffered more 
than the man that had betrayed his confidence. 

This trait has always been a marked feature in the 
character of Major McKinley, his sense of honor and 
chivalry being so ingrained and imbedded in his nature 



that it may be said no circumstances ever tempted him to 
betray a friend or forget his pHghted word. 

How many men, when the dazzHng ofifer of a nomina- 
tion for the Presidency of the United States, with an al- 
most equal certainty of election, was made would not for- 
get their promises of support to a rival and rush forward 
to seize the prize? Our political history proves that this 
has been done more than once. Twice the opportunity 
was offered to Major McKinley, and twice he spurned 
the glittering honor, as promptly and decisively as did 
Washing'ton when his soldiers offered to make him king. 

Mr. McKinley attended the national Repubhcan con- 
vention as a supporter of James G. Blaine. John Sher- 
man was a candidate, and Ohio being his native State, 
he had many friends, but the sentiment of the State as a 
whole favored the Maine statesman. Sherman esteem.ed 
and respected McKinley none the less for his sentiments. 
In the convention for the election of delegates, Major 
McKinley presided. The strife between the Blaine and 
Sherman men threatened a deadlock, and to end the 
struggle McKinley was nominated as the second dele- 
gate-at-large. 

He thanked his friends for the honor, but said he had 
assured other candidates that he would not enter the con- 
test against them, and under no circumstances could he do 
so. The convention refused to accept his refusal. One of 
the members leaped upon the platform, put the motion 
and it was carried by a big majority. McKinley ruled that 
the motion had not prevailed. Amid a scene of wild con- 
fusion, General Grosvenor put the motion a second time 
and declared it carried, the majority drowning the oppo- 
sition, if there was any. All this time, McKinley was 
thumping with his gavel, and when something approach- 
ing quiet was obtained, he insisted that the motion had 



74 "GERRYMANDERING.'* 

not been carried, and that the balloting should proceed 
upon the names already before the house, with his own 
excluded. 

"Appeal ! appeal !" was shouted from all parts of the 
hall ; "we appeal from the decision of the chair !" 

McKinley was the only self-possessed man amid that 
shouting throng. His face was flushed, but in a clear 
voice he put the motion on the appeal, as he was required 
to do by parliamentary law. A thumping majority de- 
clared against his decision, and then followed a singular 
scene. 

McKinley refused to acknowledge the validity of Gen- 
eral Grosvenor's motion, who, just as stubborn as the 
chairman, now rose to his feet on a point of order and 
insisted that as McKinley had just been elected a delegate- 
at-large by acclamation, it only remained for the conven- 
tion to elect his twO' colleagues. McKinley overruled the 
point of order and declared that the business before the 
convention was the selection of three delegates-at-large. 
Again the decision was disputed, and, seeing the drift of 
matters, McKinley made an earnest appeal to the conven- 
tion to sustain his contention. Despite every effort, and 
the use of all the parliamentary tactics at his command, he 
was elected a delegate-at-large, the honor being literally 
forced upon him. His passionate resistance, as has been 
stated, was due to his promise to several of the candidates 
not to accept the honor so long as their names were before 
the convention. A politician thus scrupulous must often 
have a lonely feeling. 

At the National Republican Convention that met in Chi- 
cago in 1884, and placed James G. Blaine in nomination, 
Major McKinley was made chairman of the Committee 
on Resolutions. In a distinct voice, he read the platform 
and was heartily applauded. The battle between Sherman 



*'GBRRYMANDERING.'» 75 

and Blaine was of a determined character. All the signs 
pointed to Sherman's success, when McKinley by his tact 
and masterful generalship rallied the Blaine forces and 
brought about the nomination of the ''White Plumed 
Knight," as his friends in their devotion called him. 

Besides assisting with all his ability in the canvass of 
Blaine, Major McKinley had his own interests to look 
after. He had been renominated and his opponents re- 
sorted to gerrymandering again, but without avail, for 
once more he was returned to Congress by a good ma- 
jority. 

McKinley's Congressional career extended over nearly 
fourteen years, and it served tO' elevate him to the very 
front rank of statesmen. In the Fiftieth Congress oc- 
curred his memorable and brilliant battle against the Mills 
bill, which was in the interests of free trade. The ma- 
jority of the Ways and Means Committee reported the 
bill. Mr. McKinley wrote the minority report. The 
earnestness of the struggle is shown by the fact that the 
debate continued for twenty-three days and eight even- 
ings, during which one hundred and fifty-one long 
speeches were made. Then followed a debate by para- 
graphs for twenty-eight days, ending with the passage 
of the bill, July 21, 1888, by a vote of 162 to 149. 

It was not long after this famous debate that Major 
McKinley attended the national convention in Chicago^ as 
the delegate from Ohio in the interests of John Sherman 
as a candidate for the Presidency. Despite the declina- 
tion of Blaine, who' was in Europe, he had a number of 
ardent friends in the convention who placed him in nomi- 
nation. On the first ballot nineteen candidates were voted 
for, the leaders being John Sherman, Walter O. Gresham, 
Russell A. Alger and Benjamin Harrison. Wlien the name 
of Connecticut was reached, McKinley was placed in 



76 •'GERRYMANDERING.' 

nomination, amid a flutter of applause. A few scatter- 
ing votes were added on the second ballot. An adjourn- 
ment followed, and upon reassembling, the vote for Mc- 
Kinley increased. The leaders maintained their positions, 
aid the friends of Blaine were aggressive and enthusias- 
tic. Thoughtful Republicans saw the prospect of a dead- 
lock, and began advising the dropping of the leaders and 
a concentration upon a "dark horse," like McKinley. The 
Republican Congressmen in Washington sent him a tele- 
gram urging him to agree to this course. McKinley did 
not deem it good taste to decline a nomination that seemed 
remote ; but on the final rollcall it became evident that a 
stampede was gathering in his favor. When he could no 
longer shut his eyes to the fact, he sprang upon his chair 
at the head of the Ohio delegation and demanded recogni- 
tion. An instant hush fell upon the turbulent assemblage, 
and all eyes were turned toward the stocky form with his 
pale face and flashing eyes. 

"Mr. President and Gentlemen," he said in his ringing 
tones, "I am here as one of the chosen representatives of 
my State. I am here by resolution of the Republican State 
Convention, passed without a single dissenting voice, com- 
manding me to cast my vote for John Sherman for Presi- 
dent, and to use every worthy endeavor for his nomina- 
tion. I accepted the trust because my heart and judgment 
were in accord with the letter and spirit and purpose of 
that resolution. It has pleased certain delegates to cast 
their votes for me for President. I am not insensible to 
the honor they would do me, but in the presence of the 
duty resting upon me, I cannot with honor remain silent. 
I cannot consistently with the wish of the State whose cre- 
dentials I bear and which has trusted me; I cannot with 
honorable fidelity to John Sherman, who has trusted me 
in his cause and with his confidence ; I cannot, consistently, 



**GKRRYMANDKRING.»' 7^ 

with my own views of personal integrity, consent, or seem 
to consent, to permit my name to be used as a candidate 
before this convention. I would not respect myself if I 
could find it in my heart to do so, or permit to be done that 
which could even be ground for any one to suspect that 
I wavered in my devotion to the chief of my State's choice, 
and the chief of mine. I do not request, I demand, that 
no delegate who would not cast reflection upon me shall 
cast a ballot for me.'* 

These were brave and loyal words, and increased the 
admiration felt for the Ohio statesman, but the most dra- 
matic scene came, afterward. Despite his positive and 
resolute declension, the feeling that he was the right man 
to be nominated spread and intensified among the delega- 
tions after the adjournment of the convention, and the 
signs grew more unmistakable that in spite of his pro- 
tests he would be nominated. Indignant and distressed, 
he went to the Connecticut delegation and insisted that 
they should respect his wishes and give up their intention. 
He could secure only a half promise and hastened to the 
New Jersey delegation, of which Garret A. Hobart was 
chairman. Hobart, who is cne of the brightest and keen- 
est-witted of the younger American statesmen, was an old 
friend, and when he heard McKinley's complaint, he 
smilingly answered that he didn't see that the major had 
anything to say in the matter. The New Jersey delegation 
was accountable only to the Republicans of their State 
and the members would take the step that was undoubt- 
edly the wisest one to take. McKinley declined to accept 
this answer and demanded to know the intention of the 
New Jersey delegation. 

b. "Since you are so earnest about it," replied Hobart, 'T 
will say that we have decided to cast our vote for William 
.McKinley, Jr., of Ohio." 



78 * ' GERRYMANDERING. ' » 

The major shook his head and asked to see the dele- 
gates themselves. When he appeared before them he 
pled with all the earnestness of his nature that they 
would respect his feelings and do as he desired. Raising 
his right arm, he solemnly said : 

**I should rather lose that arm than accept the nomina- 
tion, the circumstances being as they are." 

The delegates were deeply moved and assured him his 
wishes should be respected. He thanked them deeply and 
then made a plea for their support of John Sherman, 
doing the same with the other delegates, until he suc- 
ceeded in turning the tide, with the result that Benjamin 
Harrison became the nominee and was elected twenty- 
third President of the United States. 

A prominent politician took the hand of Major Mc- 
Kinley and said : 

"The politics of our country contain no record of a 
more honorable act than your refusal of the nomination 
in 1888." 

"Do you consider it an honorable act," asked McKinley, 
"to refuse to do a dishonorable thing?" 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE m'kINLEY bill HIS ARDUOUS LABOR HIS DEFEAT 

FOR CONGRESS HIS ELECTION AS GOVERNOR OF OHIO 

m'kINLEY's loyalty again DISPLAYED HIS 

COURSE AS GOVERNOR A CRUSHING FINANCIAL BLOV/ 

HIS MANLY COURSE HIS SECOND TERM AS GOV- 
ERNOR HIS GREAT POPULARITY m'kINLEY AS A PO- 
LITICAL CAMPAIGNER. 

It was in the Fifty-first Congress that Major McKinley, 
as chairman for the Committee on Ways and Means, in- 
troduced and secured the passage of the tariff bill that is 
known by his name. It became a law October i, 1890. 
His modesty led him always to speak of the measure as 
*'The Tariff of 1890," by which title he preferred it should 
be known, but one of the American peculiarities is that 
of calling things by their right names, as was proven in 
this instance. 

Both branches of Congress were Republican, but there 
was a majority of only two in the Senate and three in 
the House. This margin was so slight that Speaker Reed 
brought into force his rule that in counting a quorum, all 
present should be counted, whether they voted or refused 
to vote. The contention, although new, was sustained by 
the Supreme Court, and Major McKinley was one of its 
strongest advocates. 

Few people understand the mountainous work done by 
McKinley in the framing of this measure. Flenry B. Rus- 
sell, his biographer, says : 

*'The room of the Committee on Vv^ays and Means at 



^o THE M'KINIyEy Bll^t. 

the Capitol, and his little office at the Ebbitt House were 
the liveliest workshops in. Washington during the Fifty- 
first Congress. The industry of framing the bill ran day 
and night, into the small hours. The committee met in 
its room at the Capitol to hear all who wished to be heard 
on the bill, manufacturers, laborers, importers, free tra- 
ders and protectionists. The McKinley bill was no' "closed 
door" affair. Not a single interest, asking tO' be heard, 
was refused. At the very beginning, McKinley announced 
that he would listen to the testimony of any of the great 
interests of the country until the bill was finally passed. 
So frank and open was he in his work that the business 
of the country continued in a feeling of absolute security. 
There was no distrust, and rumors could not be used in 
Wall street to shake the foundations of finance or frighten 
commercial and business men. Wheels turned and looms 
hummed with no interruption." 

Meanwhile, the Democrats secured possession of the 
Ohio Legislature and determined to make their next ger- 
rymander so all-embracing that McKinley's re-election 
would be absolutely impossible. All the rock-ribbed Dem- 
ocratic counties that could be hocked around Stark County 
were made fast, a popular and able candidate was nomi- 
nated and even David B. Hill, of New York, went to Ohio 
to help down the foremost champion of protection. The 
whole country became interested in the contest, and await- 
ed the issue with close attention. Of course, McKinley 
was defeated, but instead of the usual Democratic major- 
ity of m.ore than 3,000, only 302 was recorded against him. 
When the vast successes of the Democratic party else- 
where are borne in mind, it will be conceded that McKin- 
ley in the fairest sense of the word had won a victory. 

The worth and towering ability of the man were too 
great for his party to allow him to remain in the back- 



THE M'KINIvBY BILL. 8l 

ground. Hardly was his failure known when his friends 
m Ohio began discussing his nomination, for the Govern- 
orship. Hie proposal instantly "caught on.'* At the Co- 
lumbus convention, presided over by John Sherman., his 
was the only name presented, and his nomination took 
place in a whirlwind of enthusiasm. The platform was a 
protection one and in favor of ''sound money." 

James E. Campbell was his opponent. He had been 
elected Governor two years before, by a plurality of more 
than 10,000 upon a platform declaring against protection 
and favoring the free coinage of silver. The claim was 
made and often heard that Major McKinley had been per- 
manently retired from politics and could not come within 
a thousand miles of success, but when the votes were 
counted it was found that his plurality over Campbell 
was more than 20,000 votes. The truth began to appear 
that McKinley was a hard man to kill. 

On the nth of January, 1892, he was inaugurated Gov- 
ernor of Ohio. His administration was dignified, patri- 
otic and able, winning the respect of its political oppo- 
nents, among whom he was always able to count many 
devoted personal friends. 

It was not long after Governor McKinley's inaugura- 
tion that another Presidential election occurred. He ex- 
pressed himself strongly in favor of Harrison's renomina- 
tion, and his own election, as delegate-at-large from Ohio 
was with the understanding that the vote of the delega- 
tion should be cast for Harrison. McKinley was chosen 
permanent chairman of the convention which met at Min- 
neapolis. 

A strong minority was opposed to the renomlnation of 
Harrison, and the most influential of the Republican lead- 
ers advocated the nomination of McKinley. Once more 
he was threatened with the embarrassing situation in 



82 THE M'KINLEY BILL. 

which he was placed four years before, since he had 
pledged his support to Harrison, and it is not too much 
to say that the certainty of his own overwhelming elec- 
tion at the polls would not have tempted him to violate his 
pledge. 

When the balloting began, scattering votes appeared 
for McKinley ; acting as chairman, he remained silent, for 
the vote v/as too insignificant to be feared, but he kept 
close watch upon it. When the name of Ohio, hovvrever, 
was called, ex-Governor Foraker announced that forty- 
four were cast for McKinley. The latter instantly stopped 
the call and challenged the vote. 

''The gentlem.an at present is not a member of the dele- 
gation," replied Foraker. 

*T am a delegate from Ohio," said McKinley, while 
the uproar and confusion almost drowned his voice. 

But Foraker was not to be turned down in this sum- 
mary fashion. 

"The gentleman's alternate has taken his place in the 
delegation," said the ex-Governor, "and we make the 
point of order that the gentleman is not recognized as a 
member of the delegation." 

"The chairman overrules the point of order," was Mc- 
Kinley's sturdy reply ; "and asks the secretary to call the 
roll of Ohio and I demand that my vote be counted." 

Accordingly, the roll was called, with the result that 
Harrison received two votes and McKinley forty-two. 
Then the gentleman who had cast a vote for Harrison 
arose and asked that it be recorded for McKinley. The 
latter's alternate announced that at the urgent request of 
McKinley he cast his vote for Harrison. Ohio's poll finally 
stood one for Harrison and forty-five for McKinley. 

When the call of Texas was reached, McKinley called 
a member to the chair, and, taking the floor, moved that 



THB m'kinle;y bill. 83 

the nomination of Harrison be made unanimou". Though 
the motion was seconded, it was objected to because the 
rollcall was not completed. Thereupon McKinley with- 
drew it, but immediately renewed the motion upon the 
completion of the call. He had received 182 votes de- 
spite his protest, but upon his urgent insistence, the nomi- 
nation of Harrison was made unanimous. 

Then from more than one quarter of the hall sounded 
the words of prophecy : 

''Your turn, Major, will come in 1896." 

The Republicans made a vigorous canvass, but, as every 
one knows, Harrison was defeated by Cleveland. 

Governor McKinley's first administration was compar- 
atively uneventful. Among the measures he recom- 
mended was legislation for the safety and comfort of rail- 
way employees and the traveling public. Better than all, 
he secured the passage of a law providing for a State 
Board of Arbitration. When in Congress he had been a 
staunch advocate of arbitration, not only between indi- 
viduals but nations. The law enacted in Ohio favored ar- 
bitration, but did not compel it, and it was made free of 
expense to the parties concerned. 

The times became more stormy during his second term 
as Governor. Congress set about repealing the McKin- 
ley Act, and one of tliose periods of financial depression 
such as smote the United States in 1837 and 1857, and 
which no man can foresee nor human wisdom provide 
against, settled over the country. Numerous labor strikes 
occurred in Ohio, and the Board of Arbitration had found 
its hands full. Though not required to do so, the Gov- 
ernor made the board non-partisan, and it did its work 
conscientiously. Fifteen of the twenty-eight strikes, in 
which many thousand employees were involved, v/ere set- 
tled by the board. 



84 THK M'KINI.KY BILI.. 

Governor McKinley's course while in office was credita- 
ble to him as a man, a Christian and a lover of his kind. 
He sent food to starving miners, assuming all responsibil- 
ity for payment and asking no one to contribute, though 
it was done; he urged arbitration, and by securing it in 
many instances brought troubles tO' an end after they had 
continued for months ; he was as insistent with capitalists 
as with their employees that each should concede some- 
thing and the disputants meet half way, but while merci- 
ful and kind, he was also stern and just. When the State 
was threatened with disorder, he called out the whole Na- 
tional Guard ; he assumed military command as required 
by the Constitution, and for weeks slept rarely more than 
two or three hours out of each twenty-four; he checked 
lawlessness, and by his prompt effectiveness averted the 
lynching horrors which have disgraced some other States. 
Thus, though his second term was trying and tempes- 
tuous, it won the respect of good citizens everywhere and 
increased the estimation in which McKinley w^as held 
throughout the country itself. 

In February, 1893, the Governor received a lesson that, 
it safe to say, he will remember to the last hour of his 
life. One of his lifelong friends, to whom he was bound 
by gratitude for help given when help was needed, was 
Mr. Walker, a banker and business man. News came to 
McKinley that he had failed, and the starthng feature of 
the sad business was that McKinley was an indorser on 
his notes to a large amount. 

In making these indorsements, it should be stated that 
Governor McKinley was led to believe that many of the 
notes were to take up old ones, and he did not dream that 
he had assumed a quarter of the obligations, which, upon 
investigation, were found to foot up $118,000, more than 
five times the amount of his personal fortune. 



THE M'KINLEY BILL. 85 

The charge of deficient business abiHty was made by 
poHtical opponents, but those who knew all the facts felt 
only sympathy for the man that had been betrayed by a 
false friend. His actuating motive was that of a good 
man, who, when he found he had been treated in a sim- 
ilar manner, said: 

''How wrong it would be in me to deprive myself of the 
pleasure of helping a v/orthy friend, simply because a sin- 
gle unworthy one has betrayed my trust." 

Governor McKinley had succeeded by economy and 
careful investment in acquiring property to the extent of 
some $20,000, which he immediately placed at the dis- 
posal of his creditors. Then the noble wife came forward. 
She had inherited $75,000 from her father, which she in- 
sisted should be added to her husband's, and that the 
debts should not be scaled down to the extent of a penny. 

The manly course of McKinley and the devotion of 
his wife touched a responsive chord among many who 
had never seen either of the couple. Letters continually 
came to the Governor, some from remote parts of the 
Union, inclosing moderate amounts of money, with the 
request that he would apply it in the payment of this op- 
pressive claim. McKinley, in every instance, returned the 
donations, with thanks for the kindness and sympathy 
thus shown. 

When this course of his became known, money began 
to arrive in letters that contained no signatures and gave 
no clues to the writer. The Governor did not know what 
to do with these gifts from his unknown friends. Finally, 
he was persuaded to place his affairs in the hands of 
several trustees, who were not only good friends, but 
able business men. 

These trustees had charge of the business only a brief 
while when they came to the Governor with the announce- 



86 THE MCKINLEY BILL. 

ment that every note on which he appeared as indorser 
had been paid in full, and not a dollar of the private for- 
tune of himself and wife had been disturbed. Neither the 
Governor nor his wife were satisfied. It looked to them as 
if som.e friends had been providing the funds for which 
Uhey refused to receive compensation. The couple began 
)'to make inquiries and the reply they received was: 

'This is nobody's business but ours; attend to your 
ov/n affairs." 

Of course they didn't use those exact words, but that 
was the substance of their answers, and it included all 
the information that was ever obtainable. Only the trus- 
tees themselves knew the truth, and they'll never tell. 

McKinley's second term as Governor was from January 
I, 1894, until January i, 1896. He was renominated by 
acclamation, with the following endorsement in the plat- 
form : 

"The people of Ohio have a just pride in the adminis- 
tration of the affairs of this State by Governor William 
McKinley, Jr. He brought to the discharge of his duties 
^s Governor great learning, ability and statesmanship, 
and an honest and patriotic purpose, and he has always 
shown himself capable, faithful and wise. We heartily 
indorse his administration and assure him of our great 
esteem and confidence." 

His second election was by a plurality of 80,995, the 
largest up to that time ever known in the State of Ohio. 
It was so enormous and such an overwhelming tribute ta 
bis ability and worth, that it attracted national attention, 
and it required no wise political prophet to foresee that 
destiny had selected him as the standard bearer of the 
Republican party in the next Presidential campaign. 

Governor McKinley's visit to the Columbian Exposi- 
tion on "Ohio Day," September 14, 1893, resulted in what 



THE M'KINLEY BII,L. 87 

was really an ovation to him, and with that American 
aptitude for calling things by their right names, to which 
we have already alluded, the Chicago papers referred to 
it as ''McKinley Day." 

McKinley's work as a campaigner in 1894 was in its 
Wa.y the most remarkable exhibition ever seen in this 
country. The monetary panic had subsided, but business 
depression prevailed everywhere. The wheels of industry 
stopped and thousands of unemployed had to depend 
upon the charity of the more fortunate for the means of 
living. 

McKinley went to Pennsylvania to assist in the election 
of his old friend, Galusha A. Grow, to Congress, and at 
Pittsburg addressed the largest political meeting ever 
held in that city, where the enthusiasm was unbounded. 
Amid the tumultuous cries that stopped his speaking for 
many minutes, was heard the significant one, ''McKinley, 
our next President!" and none so enthused the immense 
multitude as that. 

In the autum.n he made a tour of nineteen States, in 
none of v/hich he delivered less than twenty speeches. 
During his two days in Kansas it is estimated that he 
addressed 150,000 people. The total number of his ad- 
dresses was 371, and on one day he broke the record by 
delivering seventeen speeches! 

Samuel G. McClure, who was with the Governor on a 
part of this campaign, says: 

"The combined tours far exceeded a distance half way 
round the world. It was one of the marvels of the man 
that he was able to undergo all the fatigue which this im- 
mense feat implies, and yet close the campaign in as 
good health as when he began, and without having lost a 
pound of weight. Very often he was the last of the party 
to retire, and almost invariably was the first to rise. He 



88 THE M'KINLKY BILL. 

seemed tireless. Every State committee in the Missis- 
sippi valley, and beyond it, apparently took it for granted 
that the gallant champion of patriotism, protection and 
prosperity could not be overworked. When he consented 
to make one speech for them, they forthwith arranged 
half a dozen short stops en route, and kept him talking 
almost constantly from daybreak until late at night. He 
agreed to make forty-six set speeches in all during the 
campaign; when he had concluded, he had not only 
made them, but he had spoken at no less than three hun- 
dred and twenty-five other points as well." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FORMER METHOD OF NOMINATING PRESIDENTIAL CAN- 
DIDATES ORIGIN OF THE ''CAUCUS'' ORGANIZATION 

OF THE GOVERNMENT WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRA- 
TION FORMATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES CHANGED 

METHODS OF NOMINATING CANDIDATES NOTABLE 

ELECTIONS THE CRISIS IN 1876 POLITICAL WRECKS 

GROWING SENTIMENT IN FAVOR OF m'KINLEY's 

NOMINATION — NAMED IN 1895 BY THE OHIO CONVEN- 
TION. 

Before recalling' the events that brought about the 
nomination and election of William McKinley to the 
Presidency of the United States, the reader will be inter- 
ested in learning the history of similar movements and 
proceedings, as they afifected some of his illustrious pre- 
decessors. Every student of American history should be 
familiar with these facts, which cannot be too generally 
understood. 

The present method of nominating a Presidential can- 
didate is comparatively modern, the system followed in 
the early days of the republic being wholly different. It 
was away back in the opening years of the eig^hteenth cen- 
tury that a number of caulkers connected with the ship- 
ping business in the north end of Boston came together 
for a consultation upon matters that concerned their in- 
terests. The meeting thus held was the birth of the ''cau- 
cus," so often heard of in these days. 

The Constitution of the United States was framed and 
adopted by the convention sitting in Philadelphia in 1787. 
To give it binding effect, its ratification by nine States 



90 ORGANIZATION OF TH^ GOVERNMENT. 

was necessary. This took place the following year, and, 
in September, 1788, a day was named by Congress for 
the choice of electors for President, the date selected 
being the first Wednesday of January, 1789. The date for 
the opening of proceedings under the new Constitution 
was postponed to the first Wednesday in March. That 
happened to be the 4th, which thereby became regular 
Inauguration day, except when it falls on Sunday, when 
the 5th is selected. 

The city of New York at that time was the national 
capital. The members of Congress were so tardy in com- 
ing together that no quorum appeared in the House of 
Representatives until April ist, and five days later the 
Senate was organized. The various State legislatures 
chose the electors who were to name the President and 
Vice-President, each elector being entitled to cast two 
votes. 

The rule prevailed that the candidate who received the 
highest number of votes should become Presiaent and the 
one receiving the next highest Vice-President. The fault 
of this arrangement was that (as afterward happened) 
the two might belong to different political parties. In- 
case of death of the President, the policy of the adminis- 
tration would be changed. 

There was no difficulty in naming the first President. 
George Washington was the only one thought of, and, as 
is well known, he received every electoral vote, with John 
Adams of Massachusetts next, his strength in reality 
being less than one-half of V/ashington's (34 to 69), votes 
being given to ten other candidates. 

In the election of 1792, Washington was again unani- 
mously chosen. The vote for Adams was increased, since 
but three contestants appeared against him. Had Wash- 
ington consented, he would have been chosen unanimous- 



ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 91 

ly a third time, but increasing years and infirmities led 
him to refuse the nomination and John Adams was elect- 
ed t'he second President in 1797. 

In this election occurred the conting-ency referred to, 
for \Vhile Adams was a Federalist, Jefferson, the Vice- 
President, was a Republican, the nam^e by which the 
present Democratic party vv^as first known. 

As early as 1800 there v/as one of the stormiest elections 
conceivable. The vote between Jefferson and Aaron Burr 
was tied, and the contest became bitter and prolonged. 
The calamity of Burr's election was prevented by carrying 
one of Jefferson's supporters, who' was very ill, bundled 
and wrapped up, through the blizzard that was raging in 
Washington, and attended by his wife in one of the com- 
mittee rooms of the House, he feebly cast his vote. 
Finally, on the thirty-sixth ballot a break took place, and 
Jefferson was chosen. 

The result of this prolonged contest was an amendment 
to the Constitution by which each elector voted for a 
President and a Vice-President. It was during Wash- 
ington's administrations that t'he two leading political 
parties of the country were formed. Washington, Adams, 
Hamilton and others believed in a strong central gov- 
ernment, conferring upon the respective States only such 
functions as were absolutely necessary. They were Fed- 
eralists. On the other hand, the Republicans, of whom 
Jefferson was the foremost leader, insisted that all the 
power possible should be given to the States, and that 
Congress should have no more than that which was clear- 
ly provided by the Constitution. The Federalist party 
was powerful during the early days of the republic, but 
its strength gradually dwindled and its opposition to the 
war of 1812 finally wiped it out of existence, to be suc- 
ceeded by the Whig organization. As is well known, 



92 ORGANIZATION OF THB GOVERNMENT. 

there have been many oth^r political parties that sprang 
into existence for a brief time, but the Republicans, the 
successors of the Whigs, and the Democrats, the succes- 
sors or rather the first Republicans, form the two leading 
political organizations of the country. 

The old method of nominating Presidential candidates 
was cumbrous and often unfair. Now and then a promi- 
nent man would announce himself as a candidate, but the 
custom was for the party leaders to hold caucuses and se- 
lect their man. This was modified sO' as to^ admit dele- 
gates specially sent from the districts not represented in 
the Legislature. 

The improved method was used in New Jersey in 1812 ; 
in Pennsylvania in 1817 and in New York in 1825. The 
disappearance of a vagabond named William Morgan, in 
1826, who professed to expose the secrets of Free Ma- 
sonry, led to a charge that the members of that order 
had set him adrift just above Niagara Falls. A spirit of 
opposition to Free Masonry spread, and its supporters car- 
ried elections in several of the States. In September, 1831, 
they held a national convention in Baltimore and nomi- 
nated William Wirt, former Attorney-General of the 
United States, as their candidate for the Presidency. The 
ticket received seven electoral votes and the convention 
was the first Presidential one held in this country. 

The system was now fairly established. At the close of 
the same year, the National Republican Convention met in 
Baltimore and nominated Henry Clay and in the following 
May the Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren. Fie 
was renominated at the same place and in the same man- 
ner in 1835, but the Whigs waited until 1840 before adopt- 
ing the system that has been followed ever since. 

The Presidential campaigns are occasions of excitement, 
which, while they have caused misgiving on the part of 



organizat:[on op run government. $3 

some, are probably a healthful outlet for the high spirits 
of the American people. It is a striking and impressive 
spectacle that is seen after each contest, when the disap- 
pointed party good naturedly acknowledges defeat, with 
the resolve to "pick its flint and try it again." Where rev- 
olutions would follow in many countries, all is order, for 
v/e are a law-abiding people and the Constitution is our 
political Bible. 

The most tranquil election took place in 1820, when 
Monroe was elected a second time. The Federalist party 
having died, he was really the only candidate before the 
country, and when the electoral college met, the astonish- 
ing fact appeared that he had received every vote. Then 
took place a remarkable incident not generally known. Ex- 
Governor Blumer, of New Hampshire, one of the electors, 
rose to his feet. 

"Gentlemen," said he with deep earnestness, "this has 
never before occurred except in the case of one man — 
Washington. It is my firm belief, and I am satisfied yours 
also, that no President should share this honor with the 
Father of his Country. Therefore, although a warm friend 
of President Monroe and one of his electors, I cast my 
vote for John Adams." 

The exquisite taste of this action was applauded by his 
associates and Monroe himself was pleased, for who would 
presume to try to climb up beside George Washington? 

"Old Hickory," one of the most popular of all our Presi- 
dents, was formally nominated by the Tennessee Legisla- 
ture, July 22, 1822. On the 22d of February, 1824, the 
few Federalists that could be brought together in Harris- 
burg did the same, and on the 4th of March following a 
Republican convention also nominated him. This would 
look as if Jackson had about all the nominations neces- 
sary, but William H. Crawford, of Georgia, was the regu- 



94 ORGANIZATION OF THB GOVERNMEJNT. 

lar nominee of the Congressional caucus. There were 
other candidates and although Jackson received the 
largest number of electoral votes, a coalition of his oppo- 
nets brought about the choice of John Quincy Adams b^ 
the House of Representatives. 

The unjust treatment of Jackson made him the idol of 
the country and insured his election for two terms by 
enormous majorities and his administrations established 
him in the affection and respect of his countrymen. 

Those whO' are old enough to remember the campaign 
of 1840, vv^ill never forget its stirring days. General Will- 
iam Henry Harrison, grandfather of ex-President Benja- 
min Harrison, after being placed in nomination by the 
Whig convention at Harrisburg (having been defeated 
by Van Buren in 1836) was sneered at by the Baltimore 
Republican, which said that if some one would pension 
him with a few hundred dollars and give him a barrel of 
hard cider he would sit down in his log-cabin and be con- 
tent for the rest of his life. 

That slur furnished the battle cry of the campaign. 
Hard cider became the universal beverage of the Whigs 
and log-cabins popped up like mushrooms in all the cities, 
towns, villages, hamlets and at every cross road in the 
country. Men, women and children who could sing, and 
thousands who couldn't sing, joined in bellowing the cam- 
paign songs, and a wave of enthusiasm that swept over 
the country landed Harrison in the White House by an 
electoral vote of 234 to 60 for Van Buren. 

The national conventions that followed were without 
special interest until i860. Then it was that the awful 
shadow of the approaching civil war darkened the land, 
and countless prayers went up to heaven that the bitter 
cup might not be pressed to our lips. The wisest men 
took counsel to«-ether, but it was "writ in the book of 



ORGANIZATION OF THB GOVBRNMEJNT. 95 

fate" that the land should be purged by fire and blood, 
and events swept onward with a might that could not be 
stayed. The Democratic party broke into fragments, so 
hopelessly frittering away its strength that Abraham Lin- 
coln of Illinois, the second Presidential candidate of the 
Republicans (John C Fremont having been the first) was 
elected. 

^ Then came the terrific civil war, the Union was restored 
and the brethren North and South were more firmly united 
than before. The only Presidential election since' the war 
to which we can make reference v/as that of 1876, which 
brought the most critical period in our history, though 
many may not realize the fact. The contest was between 
Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate, of New 
York, and Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candi- 
date of Ohio. Without going into particulars, truth im- 
pels us to say that Tilden was fairly elected, but the Elec- 
toral Commission, formed to meet the alarming danger, 
counted in Hayes, the Commission consisting of eight Re- 
publicans and seven Democrats, who divided as named. 
The country was intensely stirred, and but for the cool- 
ness of leading men and that innate love of order which 
is so eminently characteristic of our people, there would 
have been civil v/ar, not between the North and South, 
but between neighbors in both sections. Happily the 
fearful crisis passed without strife or bloodshed, and no 
similar peril is ever likely again to threaten our country. 

Looking back over the long list of Presidential cam- 
paigns, we see many pathetic wrecks cast upon the shores. 
Henry Clay, one of the greatest of Americans, was nomi- 
nated three times and defeated in each instance. There 
was justice in his bitter complaint that the nomination 
went to him when there was no earthly prospect of suc- 
cess, while when the skies were favorable some one else 



96 ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 

received the honor. Webster longed for the nomination 
and died disappointed. He contemptuously refused the 
offer of the Vice-Presidency under Harrison and Taylor, 
and yet had he accepted either he would have become 
President, since both chiefs died in office. Seward grace- 
fully accepted defeat at the hands of Lincoln, whom he 
revered and became the mainstay of his administration. 
Blaine did not murmur until 1892, when close to the verge 
of death, his proud nature rebelled. John Sherman be- 
lieving he had been betrayed by professed friends, did not 
hesitate to say so, when he saw that the hope of success 
had passed him by forever. 

It was said of the Chicago convention of i860, that long 
before the delegates came together the nomination of Lin- 
coln was as certain as the rising of the sun. When one was 
asked to explain he could only reply that it was ''in the 
air." Events pointed to such consummation, and the 
machinations of politicians were in vain. 

The political situation was somewhat similar in 1896. 
As the time approached for the naming of the Republican 
standard bearer there was great activity. A half dozen 
States put forward "favorite sons," and their praises were 
sounded by the press and friends. Their claims were set 
forth in elaborate biographies and all were worthy men ; 
but, however popular among their neighbors, the country 
at large did not call for them in loud tones. Astute poli- 
ticians pulled the wires with masterly skill and high hopes 
were raised in the breast of more than one candidate. 

And yet, despite every possible effort to check the ris- 
ing sentiment in favor of William McKinley, it grew and 
increased, until it may be said his name was in every 
one's mouth. The most resolute efforts tO' weaken his 
popularity not only failed but seemed to add tO' his 
strength. It was the people who called for him, and when 



ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVKRNMBNT. 97 

they call they become the real leaders and the nominal 
leaders the followers. 

McKinley's loyalty to his friends had caused him twice 
to refuse the honor of a Presidential nomination. He had 
done his full duty, far more, indeed, than the majority of 
men would have done in his situation. The ambition to 
become the chief magistrate of the mightiest nation on the 
globe *is a most worthy one, and he resolved to abide by 
the decision of his admirers and supporters. To use a 
common expression, he "placed himself in the hands of 
his friends," and there could be no question of what they 
intended to do with him. 

He could not fail to observe the rising tide in his favor. 
True to his modesty, he withdrev/ from an active part in 
politics, wishing to avoid all appearance of any attempt 
to influence the political sentiments of his countrymen. 
He meant that events should take their natural course 
and he was well content to abide the issue. 

The first real note was sounded in his native State at 
the convention of 1895, when the platform named him as 
Ohio's choice. Senator Foraker, amid unbounded en- 
thusiasm, addressed the convention: 

^'William McKinley is our own. He lives here in Ohio 
and has always lived among us. He is our friend, our 
neighbor, our fellow citizen, our fellow Republican. Shoul- 
der to shoulder with him we have been fighting the bat- 
tles of Republicanism in this State for a generation. 
We know him^ and he knows us. We know his 
life, his character, his public services, and his fitness 
for the place for which he has been named. He 
has been our soldier comrade, our representative in Con- 
gress, our Governor. By all these tokens, we, here, to- 
day, present him to the Republicans of the other sections 
of the Union as our choice, and ask them to make him 



gS ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMFNT. 

theirs. In ever}^ community, in every m.unicipality, in 
every mill and mine and furnace and forge and workshop, 
everywhere throughout this broad land where capital is 
invested, or labor is employed, William McKinley is the 
ideal American statesman, the typical Amicrican leader, 
and the veritable x^merican idol. No man ever, in public 
life in this country, enjoyed such universal popularity as 
his. No man in this country, in public life, ever com- 
manded, as he now commands, the affections of the great 
mass of the voters of this country. Blameless in private 
life, useful and illustrious in public life, his name, in our 
judgment, will inspire more confidence, excite more en- 
thusiasm., and give greater guarantee of success than any 
other name that can be inscribed on the Republican 
banner." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN — THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 

ENTHUSIASTIC NOMINATION OF m'kINLEY THE 

PLATFORM HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED AT 

M'kINLEY's home THE CANDIDACY OF W, J. BRYAN 

RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN INAUGURATION OF 

m'kINLEY — EXTRA SESSION OF CONGRESS. 

Organization is as necessary for success in political 
campaigns as in an army before the enemy. Mark A. 
Hanna is a successful business man, and it was to him 
that William McKinley entrusted the management of his 
political candidacy. Hanna associated a number of able 
men with him, and they worked with vigor, skill and suc- 
cess. Convinced that if the people were left to themselves, 
they would express their preference for McKinley before 
all other candidates that had been named, the managers 
devoted their efforts to securing an honest expression of 
their views and wishes. 

McKinley managers were selected in every State and 
allowed to push the campaign as they deemed best. The 
result was that before the assembling of the national con- 
vention the majority of the delegates were instructed to 
support McKinley. Nevertheless there were ardent ad- 
vocates of Thomas B. Reed of Maine, Wilham B. Allison 
of Iowa, who was a delegate to the Chicago convention in 
i860, a Congressman and Senator; Levi P. Morton, Gov- 
ernor of New York; Matthew S. Quay, General Russell 
A. Alger, and others of less prominence. 

The Auditorium or Convention Hall of St. Louis is 
capable of accomm'odating an immense audience, and it is 



lod THE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 

estimated that nearly 50,000 visitors had flocked to the 
city. The convention was called to order June 16 by 
Thomas Henry Carter, chairman of the Republican Na- 
tional Committee, and Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana 
v^as made temporary chairman, succeeded by Senator J. 
M. Thurston of Nebraska as permanent chairman. All 
of these men made the usual speeches and helped to rouse 
the multitude tO' a high pitch of ardor. 

Thursday was the all important day. Fully 15,000 peo- 
ple swarmed into the Auditorium, and fortunately the op- 
pressive weather for which the Mound City is noted did 
not yet smite, though it was at hand. When the con- 
vention was called upon to make nominations, R. M. 
Baldwin named Senator W. B. Allison of Iowa; Senator 
Lodge, Speaker Thomas B. Reed, while Chauncey M. 
Depew presented the name of Governor Morton. It fell 
to the lot of ex-Governor Foraker tO' nominate McKin- 
ley. He advanced to the platform and in one of his im- 
passioned outbursts, during which he naturally attacked 
the opposite political party, he named the Ohio states- 
man. 

The "whirlwind of enthusiasm" that followed compelled 
Foraker to stand mute for more than twenty minutes. 
Then he concluded with an eloquent peroration. Senator 
Thurston, having called Mr. Hepburn to the chair, sec- 
onded the nomination of McKinley in a speech fully as 
eloquent as his predecessor. In the course of his remarks 
he said: 

"When this country called to arms, he took into his 
boyish hands a musket and followed the flag, bravely 
baring his breast to the hell of battle that it might float 
serenely in the Union sky. For a quarter of a century he 
has stood in the fierce light of public place, and his robes 
of office are spotless as the driven snow. He has cher- 



tHE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. v^I 

ished no higher ambition than the honor of his country 
and the welfare of the plain people. Steadfastly, cour- 
ageously, victoriously, and with a tongue of fire, he has 
pleaded their cause. His labor, ability and perseverance 
have enriched the statutes of the United States with legis- 
lation in their behalf. All his contributions to the master- 
pieces of American oratory are the outpourings of a pure 
heart and a patriotic purpose. His God-given powers are 
consecrated to the advancement and renown of his own 
country, and to the uplifting and ennobling of his own 
countrymen. He has the courage of his convictions, and 
cannot be tempted to woo success or avert defeat by any 
sacrifice of principle or concession to public clamor." 

Amid a profound hush the balloting began. The vote 
for McKinley grew rapidly, and the interesting fact was 
that the moment Ohio' announced her ballot, it was ap- 
parent to all his nomination was secured. Pandemonium 
broke loose again, and it was a long time before the chair- 
man was able to announce the vote. When he did so it 
was: Allison, 35J; Reed, 84J; Quay, 61^; Morton, 58; 
McKinley, 6614. 

Senator Lodge, who had nominated Reed, now made a 
forceful speech in support of his motion to make the nom- 
ination of McKinley unanimous. The motion was second- 
ed by Hastings of Pennsylvania, who had nominated 
Quay; Thomas C. Piatt of New York, Henderson of 
Iowa, and J. Madison Vance of Louisiana. 

At this point there were loud calls for Chauncey M. 
Depew, who mounted his chair in the back of the room 
and responded: 

'T am in the happy position now of making a speech 
for the man who is going to be elected. (Laughter and 
applause.) It is a great thing for an amateur, when his 
first nomination has failed, to come in and second th^ 



I02 THE PRBIwIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 

man who has succeeded. New York is here without bit- 
ter feehng and no disappointment. We recognized that 
the waves have submerged us, but we have bobbed up 
serenely. (Loud laughter.) It was a cannon from New 
York that sounded first the news of McKinley's nomina- 
tion. They said of Governor Morton's father that he was 
a New England clergyman who brought up a family of 
ten children on $300 a year, and was, notwithstanding, 
gifted in prayer. (Laughter.) It does not make any differ- 
ence how poor he may be, how out of work, how ragged, 
how next door to a tramp anybody may be in the United 
States to-night, he will be 'gifted in prayer' at the result 
of this convention. (Cheers and laughter.) There is a prin- 
ciple dear to the American heart. It is the prin- 
ciple which moves American spindles, starts its industries, 
and makes the wage earners sought for instead of seeking 
employment. That principle is embodied in McKinley. 
His personality explains the nomination to-day. And his 
personality will carry intO' the Presidential chair the 
aspirations of the voters of America, of the families of 
America, of the homes of America, protection tO' Amer- 
ican industry, and Am^erica for Americans." (Cheers.) 

In this memorable campaign the tariff question was 
put in the background. The Republican platform called 
for the maintenance of gold as the single standard of 
monetary value, as opposed tO' the free and unlimited 
coinage of silver. The adoption of this plank caused a 
split between the gold and silver men, the latter under the 
lead of Senator Teller of Colorado withdrawing from the 
conventioUo The total number who bolted was twenty- 
one, including four Senators and two Representatives, 
who partly represented Montana, Utah, South Dakota, 
Nevada, with the whole delegation of Idaho and of Colo- 



THK PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 103 

rado. Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey was nominated 
for Vice-President. 

During these stirring days and hours, McKinley re- 
mained with his family at his home in Canton. The tele- 
graph companies had arranged to carry the news at the 
earliest possible moment to the town, and McKinley's 
house was connected by long distance telephone with the 
Auditorium in which the convention was held, and there 
was an expert at each end of the wire. McKinley sat in 
his rocking chair in his office, gently swaying back and 
forth, the calmest man in the whole group as he awaited 
the momentous news. His neighbors and a number of 
newspaper correspondents were with him, or sauntered 
through the lower rooms and out upon the veranda, while 
they, too, awaited the tidings that was momentarily ex- 
pected. Mother McKinley, with her four-score and six 
years, sat in the room across the hall, while Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley pleasantly welcomed every one. 

After lunch, McKinley took his place beside the opera- 
tor at the telephone. The young man announced the dif- 
ferent nominations as the rest of the visitors gathered 
around and intently listened. 

"Foraker is about to speak," he said, with his ear to 
the instrument. 

A few minutes later he added: 

*'He has just mentioned your name and the convention 
has gone wild." 

The anxious minutes passed, and, looking in the faces 
of the group, the operator smilingly added: 

"They are keeping it up." 

*T have seen cheering contests in other conventions," 
remarked McKinley, who vv^as recalling some of his ex- 
periences, when the operator beckoned him forward and 
placed the instrument to his ear. 



104 ^HE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 

Even the veteran was impressed by the roar that rolled 
across three States from the tumultuous convention hall 
to the humble home in Ohio, guided by one of the most 
wonderful inventions of man. 

Finally after a long time the operator added; 

"Foraker is trying it again. He says -' 

And he repeated the glowing words as they were ut- 
tered hundreds of miles away. 

When the voting began, McKinley jotted down the 
figure on a tablet. Suddenly came the announcement: 

*'Ohio forty-six for McKinley!" 

That decided it. The major stopped figuring, and ris- 
ing to his feet, walked across the hall and kissed his wife 
and venerable mother. He had hardly done so when the 
windows rattled from the boom of a cannon fired but a 
short distance away. Canton had heard the news and 
had begun its celebration. 

It seemed as if in a few minutes the streets were swarm- 
ing with people, all wending their way to the home of 
Major McKinley. The congratulations showered upon 
him were almost without number, while his acknowledg- 
ments were fervent, honest and hi the best of taste. It 
seemed as if Canton had become the Mecca for weeks fol- 
lowing of half the people in the country. The candidate 
remained at home throughout the campaign, making re- 
sponses to the delegations and numerous associations that 
called, but leaving the conduct of the campaign wholly 
in the hands of his political managers. 

The National Convention of the Democratic party was 
held in Chicago on the 7th of July. All are familiar with 
its troubles over the money question. The Democratic 
leaders in the East favored the single gold standard, but 
they were outvoted by the Democrats of the West and 
South, who advocated the free coinage of silver. Those 



tHE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 105 

sections had suffered greatly from the financial de- 
pression, and believed that their deliverance must come 
through the means named. It was the same question that 
caused the bolt in the Republican party by the Western 
delegates, though the disaffection was much less than 
among the Democrats, where it overmastered all other 
sentiment. 

There were good and able men in the ranks of the ''Sil- 
verites," and their arguments won many converts. A 
determined struggle took place in the convention, result- 
ing finally in the nomination of William Jennings Bryan 
of Nebraska on the fifth ballot. 

Two weeks later the Populist or People's party met in 
St. Louis and indorsed the nomination of Bryan. Several 
other tickets were placed in the field, but it is not neces- 
sary to refer to them, since the real struggle lay between 
McKinley and Bryan. 

Bryan made a gallant fight. He was bom in Illinois, 
in i860, and because of his ability in his youth was often 
referred to as **the Boy Orator of the Platte." He began 
the practice of law in his native State, but removed to 
Lincoln, Nebraska. His oratorical gifts made him a pop- 
ular political speaker before he attained his majority. In 
1890 he was elected to Congress, where he took rank 
among the best debaters and added to his fame as a 
powerful and convincing speaker. 

Being fairly launched as the main opponent of McKin- 
ley in the Presidential race, Bryan entered into the fight 
with amazing energy. He traveled from State to State, 
addressing thousands in the large cittes, from the plat- 
form of his railway car, at fairs, in towns and villages, in 
mills and workshops, among the mountains, in the back- 
woods, and at all hours of the day and night. He seemed 
tireless, capable of going without sleep, food and drink 



lo6 THB PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 

for an astonishing length of time. In short, his cam- 
paign was much like that of McKinley several years be- 
fore to which reference has been made. 
' Despite the popularity of McKinley, many of his sup- 
porters felt misgivings of his final success. This was not 
due so much to the ability displayed by Bryan as to the 
fact that the principles he proclaimed had been already 
accepted by hundreds of thousands of American citizens. 
No one could deny the widespread suffering that had ex- 
isted for years, and still existed, in the South and West. 
Most of the sufferers believed, as has been stated, that the 
only remedy for them lay in the free coinage of silver, and 
since Bryan represented that policy he was their cham- 
pion. 

Had the Presidential election taken place in August or 
possibly September it is generally conceded that Bryan 
would have been elected. He had a stupendous following 
and it looked as if no decisive break could be made in its 
ranks. In many sections men who had always voted with 
the Republican party supported his platform, though it 
must be remembered that the ''gold wing" of the Demo- 
cratic party placed an independent ticket in the field. 

But the McKinley managers set on foot what is some- 
times termed a campaign of education. They published 
and distributed tons of literature and sent hundreds of the 
best speakers through the country to win voters to the 
support of their principles and to convince the workmen 
that their only hope of improvement lay through the suc- 
cess of the Republican ticket. This gigantic, systematized 
work, guided and superintended by veterans at the busi- 
ness, soon showed results. 

When the votes were counted it was found that the 
total popular vote was 13,923,378, of which McKinley re- 
ceived 603,514 more than Bryan, with an excess for Mc- 



THE PRHlyIMIN4RY CAMPAIGN, 107 

Kinley over all of 286,728, while his electoral vote was 
271 to 176 for Er3-an. 

An objection has often been expressed to the selection 
of March 4 as inauguration day, because of the liability 
to disagreeable weather, the stormy days greatly outnum- 
bering the pleasant ones. It has been claimed that the 
exposure to which General W. H. Harrison w^as thus sub- 
jected hastened his death, and the last inauguration of 
Grover Cleveland was on one of the most tempestuous 
days of the year. Beyond question the severe weather 
was the cause of more than one death among the visitors, 
and there was anxiety for the health of the President him- 
self, though happily the fear proved unfounded. 

March 4, 1897, however, was an exception to the rule. 
The air was clear and sunshiny, with a blue sky and a 
crispness that made the day an ideal one for the inaugura- 
tion of the new President, who' was the picture of superb 
health. 

The scene was as brilliant as any of the preceding inau- 
gurations. Tens of thousands of cheering visitors crowd- 
ed the national capital and all the ceremonies w^ere strik- 
ing and impressive. More regular army men appeared in 
tlie parade than ever before, every branch of the service 
being represented. In the Senate the notable representa- 
tives of foreign countries appeared in their dazzling rai- 
ment and added to the splendor of the occasion. There 
was no slip anywhere, everything passing to its trium- 
phant conclusion with a wealth of beauty that has never 
been surpassed. 

The President's inaugural was terse, direct and compar- 
atively brief. He proclaimed as his guiding principles a 
rigid economy in government expenditures, a debt-paying 
instead of a debt-contracting management of finances, a 
revenue sufificient to meet all public needs and chiefly 



lo8 THE PRELIMINARY CAMPAIGN. 

from a protective tariff on imports, the revival of Secre- 
tary Blaine's reciprocity policy, the building up of Amer- 
ican commerce, the protection of American citizens, the 
fostering of friendly feelings between the North and 
South, the proper checks to immigration, civil service re- 
form, a firm and dignified foreign policy, and he urged 
arbitration as the true method of settling all international 
differences. 

Having selected an able Cabinet the President called 
an extra session of Congress for March 15. The object 
of this session was to provide a tariff measure that would 
meet the running expenses of the government and pay 
the deficiency that had been accruing annually for several 
years previous. Such a bill was framed and enacted after 
long and earnest debate, and was followed by a slow but 
seemingly sure improvement in all the business interests 
throughout the country. 



\ \ ^ V " ^ ^ \ \ 



CHAPTER XL 

IN THE WHITE HOUSE — AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY — DEATH 
OF THE president's AGED MOTHER THE EVE OF MO- 
MENTOUS EVENTS THE EARLY HISTORY OF SPAIN — • 

EXPULSION OF THE MOORS FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 

THE DUKE OF ALVA LA NAVIDAD PIZARRO 

CORTES GREED AND FEROCITY OF THE SPANIARDS — • 

BALBOA PONCE DE LEON GOMEZ ^DE SOTO MENEN- 

DEZ FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 

The stripling who began his career as a boy soldier 
in the service of his country, Who had been promoted for 
gallant and meritorious conduct, who was afterward hon- 
ored by being repeatedly elected to Congress and the 
Gubernatorial chair of his native State, had now reached 
the highest office in the gift of his countrymen. He had 
advanced from the Tent to the White House. 

One of the most admirable features of our system of 
government is the philosophy and good nature with 
which the result of a national election is received by the 
defeated party. There is no questioning, no anger, no ill 
will. It is the People who rule in this favored land, and 
their verdict is accepted as final. Should any disappoint- 
ed leader attempt to organize a revolution, as is the cus- 
tom after each election in many South American coun- 
tries and elsewhere, he would not have a single supporter, 
and would be squelched before he could yawp a second 
time. The United States is the home of order and of 
law. 

Although William Jennings Bryan and thousands of 
his friends had been hopeful of victory, that leader was 



no IN THK WHITE HOUSK, 

among the first of the throng to call upon President Mc- 
Kinley with his congratulations, during which there was 
a pleasant exchange of jest and reminiscences of the late 
struggle. To the credit of both of these gentlemen be it 
recorded that not once during the heated progress of the 
canvass did one of them utter a word personally against 
the other. Such political battles that are viewed with 
misgiving by many of the timid, really clear the atmos- 
phere and make Americans understand one another bet- 
ter. 

No President ever entered upon the duties of his re- 
sponsible office with more general wishes for his success. 

"Give him a fair chance,'' said his political opponents; 
"let him be judged by what he accomplishes, for he is 
entitled to that test." 

During the extra session of Congress, to which refer- 
ence has been made, President McKinley, whose life, like 
that of his wife, had been shadowed by affliction, was 
called upon to bear another blow. His father had died 
several years before, but his revered mother was spared 
to him until she was well advanced toward four-score and 
ten. The affection between the venerable parent, weak in 
body, but strong in mind, and the stalwart son in the 
prime of his mental and physical vigor, was deep and 
tender. To her, he was still the "good boy" who had 
never caused her a pang, and upon whom she now leaned 
with a mutual affection, love and confidence that became 
more devoted as she passed down the decline of life. 

The sorrowful message that she was at death's door, 
in the distant Canton home, sent the President thither 
by special train from his exacting duties in Washington, 
and it was an unspeakable consolation to him that as 
she hovered for a brief while on the verge of the Dark 
River, she was able to recognize his presence by a gentle 



IN THS WHITE HOUSE. Ill 

return of the warm pressure of his hand, which held hers 
until the spirit fled. The nation honors the strong man 
for his love to his mother and to his wife. 

The administration that opened so promisingly, and to 
which all looked for a return of prosoeritv and tranquil- 
ity, was destined to be the most stirring and exciting since 
the War for the Union. Momentous events were at hand, 
history was making, and soon the eyes of the civilized 
world were turned toward the western hemisphere, where 
one of the most important dramas of the century was en- 
acted. 

In order that the reader may understand the recent 
exciting incidents in which our country took a leading 
part for humanity some of the events of the past must be 
recalled. 

Spain is the leper among nations. Her career for 
'^enturies has been one of oppression, treachery, blood 
and crime. No barbarians have been guilty of such per- 
fidy and outrage, for which there was no shadow of pallia- 
tion. Her deeds ought to have driven her centuries ago 
outside the pale of civilization, instead of allowing her to 
sit at the table with other peoples, who, whatever their 
faults, have won glory and were never guilty of a tithe of 
the abominations that have stained her past. 

The history of Spain, like that of many other countries, 
is involved in the mists of antiquity. The people are a 
mixed race that have sprung from a greater variety of 
stocks than any other European nation. The country was 
the Spania, Hispania and Iberia of the Greeks, and was 
known to the Romans by the same names. It is believed 
to have been first inhabited by a distinct race called Iber- 
ians, upon whom a host of Celts descended from the 
Pyrenees. They blended and formed the mixed nation of 
the Celtiberians, who occupied chiefly the middle of the 



124 IN THK WHITE HOUSB. 

peninsula, in the western districts of Lusitania and on the 
northern coasts, while the pure Iberian tribes were in the 
Pyrenees and along the eastern coast, with unmixed Cel- 
tic tribes in the northwest. In Andalusia was a numerous 
admixture of the Phoenician element, and on the southern 
and eastern coasts were Phoenician, Carthaginian, Rho- 
dian and other colonies. The "Tarshish" mentioned in 
Scripture was on the southern coast, and was called Tar- 
tessus by the Greeks. Thither sailed the Phoenician mer- 
chantman in quest of the mineral riches of the district. 

The early history of the peninsula was one series of 
wars, of too complicated a character to be dwelt upon in 
this place. The peninsula was conquered by the Romans, 
about two centuries before the birth of the Saviour, and 
erected into a Roman province. Ruling with an iron 
hand, the Romans brought peace and prosperity to the 
sorely devasted country. So' vast and numerous were 
the improvements that for three centuries Spain was the 
richest province of the Roman Empire. Then came dif- 
ferent conquests, desolating wars, first by the barbarous 
Alans, Vandals and Sueva, who sv^armed through the 
Pyrenees and overran the peninsula (409 A. D.), then by 
the Visigoths, who conquered the Suevia and expelled 
the Goths and Vandals, and finally by the Arabs or 
Moors, who from the beginning of the eighth century 
governed the country by emirs appointed by the caliph 
of Damascus. 

It took Spain seven hundred years to drive out the 
Moors, who were never thoroughly expelled from the 
country, for to-day there are 60,000, easily distinguishable 
by their tongue and other peculiarities. 

The reader of history will recall that when Columbus 
was engaged upon his great voyages of discovery which 
resulted in the finding of a New World, the Spaniards 



IN THE WHITE HOUSE. 1x3 

were still hammering away at the Moors. Regarding 
Columbus and the backing he received by Spain there has 
been a great deal of falsehood written. 

In the first place, it must be remembered that Colum- 
bus, Americus Vespuccius, Verrazani and other discover- 
ers and explorers were Italians, without a drop of Spanish 
blood in their veins. Ferdinand of Spain is credited with 
furnishing Columbus with the indispensable funds for his 
enterprise. Columbus spent seven years in begging for 
help from King Ferdinand and was refused. Then Queen 
Isabella offered to pledge her jewels, but she never did so, 
and did not contribute a single peseta, while the present 
Queen Isabella of Spain from her exile subscribed 3,000 
pesetas to help perpetuate the torture of the starving 
Cubans. 

King Ferdinand was a penurious, selfish ruler, who al- 
lowed his treasurer to pay a portion of the expense of the 
wonderful voyage, the remainder being furnished by the 
personal friends of Columbus. The credit that rightly be- 
longs to Ferdinand is that which attaches to a speculator 
who pays a niggardly price to a great inventor for some- 
thing which he is sure will bring him a fortune. He dis- 
played his true Spanish character when later he lied to 
Columbus, did his utmost to cheat him of his just dues 
and allowed him to die, feeble, impoverished and broken 
hearted. 

We would not attempt to sully the fair name of Isa- 
bella, whose chief fame rests upon an impulsive offer to 
put her jewels in pawn for the sake of getting something 
ten hundred thousand times as valuable, but who wouldn't 
have done the same if the chance were offered? 

All the same, however, Spain was one of the most pov/- 
erful nations on the globe at the time of the discovery of 
America, and she might have retained that proud position 



114 I^ THE WHITE HOUSE. 

but for her greed, her rapacity, her treachery, her lack of 
honor and lier unpatriotic spirit. Those detestable quali- 
ties, inborn and inbred, were the seeds that brought her 
decay and decline to a fourth-rate place among the pow- 
ers of the world. 

The belief that the New World was teeming with gold 
sent swarms of adventurers across the ocean, to the neg- 
lect of their own vast mineral wealth. During the reign 
of the successor of Ferdinand (Charles L) Mexico and 
Peru were added to the possessions of Spain, but she 
steadily declined in prosperity and power, which has con- 
tinued to the present time, with one temporary revival 
under Charles IIL (1759-88). 

And what a record she made for herself in the New 
World! It was simply one long career of perfidy, feroc- 
ity, treachery, murder and every hideous crime of which 
human ingenuity is capable. 

Let us take a rapid glance at the doings that concern 
our own country, omitting reference to the Duke of Alva 
or Alba, except to say that in the sixteenth century he pre- 
sided over the "bloody council" in the Netherlands and 
boasted that he executed 18,000 men, and that there were 
other favorite sons who were equal exemplars of iniquity. 
On the first voyage of Columbus he left forty-three Span- 
iards to found the settlement of La Navidad (January 16, 
1493), ^^ one of the West India islands. 

In that soft climate, with the trusting friendship of the 
gentle natives, with the rich soil and every favoring con- 
dition, the Spaniards, if they had possessed common 
sense, would have become prosperous, rich and happy; 
but the sails of the Nina had hardly dipped below the 
horizon when the miscreants began acting out their true 
nature. The Indians were treated with such hideous bru- 
tality that the^ came to believe their only hope was in 



IN THE WHITE HOUSE, iiS 

exterminating the monsters that had come among them. 
So they Hterally swarmed upon and overwhelmed them, 
and never ceased their work until every Spaniard was 
wiped out of existence. 

Pizarro was of shameful birth, was a swineherd and 
did not know enough to write his name, but he conquered 
Peru, and to quote the words of an eminently fair his- 
torian : 

"He was eminently selfish, perfidious and relent- 
less. His conquest of Peru is a drama in every act of 
which there is bloodshed; but the drama is consistent at 
least to the end. Pizarro lived a life of violence and died 

a violent and bloody death." 

Cortes conquered Mexico, displaying dash, bravery 
and enterprise, but marring his success by the usual 
treachery and cruelty that is inherent in his people. 

Few persons comprehend the horrible crimes that with- 
out exception marked every attempt of the Spanish to 
explore and settle our own country. The all-controlling 
motive was greed. They v^ere a mob of murderers, hunt- 
ing for gold, and their chief amusement was in torturing 
and putting to death the natives who wished to be their 
friends. The chief whose tribe had furnished them with 
food and who accepted an invitation to join a Spanish of- 
ficer at dinner was made prisoner and killed, with the re- 
finement of torture shown by the Apaches to their white 
captives. The heavy armor and firearms of the invaders 
made them almost invulnerable against the spears and ar- 
rows of the Indians. If a Spaniard felt the need of a little 
bodily exercise, he obtained it by going out and slaying a 
few Indians, not caring whether they were men, women 
or innocent children. If one was unwilling to give up 
some tiny golden trinket, the white man obtained It by 
blowing out his brains. If the simple-hearted native 



Ii6 IN THE WHITE HOUSE. 

brought him food, the Spaniard gorged himself upon it 
and then thanked the smiling giver by running his sword 
through him or perforating him with a bullet. 

Lest this statement may seem overdrawn, we give a 
single incident upon which there is no dispute among his- 
torians, and it may be accepted as a type of scores of 
others that marked the exploration of the New World 
by the Spanish. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a reckless profligate who, 
to escape his creditors, hid himself in a hogshead, after 
sneaking on board a vessel, and wasn't discovered by the 
indignant captain until too far out to sea to return and 
put him ashore. Still he would have made another Rob- 
inson Crusoe of 'him by leaving him on the first barren 
island sighted had not Balboa piteously begged off. The 
vessel was wrecked, and Balboa, who had been on the 
coast before, led the crew through the wilderness to an 
Indian village, where they were saved from starvation. 
Because of this exploit Balboa was made leader of the ad- 
venturers, who amused themselves by raiding the adjoin- 
ing towns and killing the natives. 

It was on one of these raids that an Indian told Bal- 
boa of a great sea that lay six days* journey to the west- 
ward, where gold was as abundant as the pebbles on the 
shore. The prospect of securing gold fired the Span- 
iards, who set out to hunt it under the guidance of sev- 
eral natives. There was considerable pleasant fighting 
on the road, in which the adventurers suffered no harm, 
because of their armor and superior weapons. It was 
in September, 151 3, that the party reached a mountain 
from the top of which the native guides said the great sea 
could be seen. Balboa made his companions wait while 
he climbed the elevation for a sight of the wonderful 
body of water. They intently watched and saw him, 



IN THE WHITE HOUSE. 117 

after gazing a few minutes, drop on his knees and thank 
God for the sight with which he had been favored. Well 
might he do so, for he was the first white man tO' look 
upon the Pacific Ocean. 

More thanks to heaven were offered, formal posses- 
sion was taken of the mightiest body of water on the 
globe in the name of Ferninand of Castile, and then what 
was the next step? Balboa ordered his men to fall upon 
all the natives they met and massacre them, sparing only 
those who purchased their lives by giving gold. And 
the fearful orders were carried out. Five years later Bal- 
boa was executed by command of the Spanish governor 
of Darien. It was this discovery that led to the conquests 
of Peru and Mexico, and the settlement of the western 
coast of our country, where to-day may be found numer- 
ous proofs of the visit of the Spaniards more than three 
and a half centuries ago. 

Who has not heard of the voyage of Ponce de Leon 
to Florida and his idiotic search for the Fountain of 
Youth? He landed near the site of the present city of 
Fernandina and was the first governor within the present 
limits of the United States. Like all his predecessors 
and followers, he was frightfully cruel to the Indians, one 
of whom squared matters by driving an arrow into his 
breast that killed him. This was in 1521. 

In 1525 Stephen Gomez, another Spanish adventurer, 
sailed along the Atlantic coast, but did nothing more 
than kidnap a number of Indians and take them home 
as slaves. Three years later Pamphilo Narvaez landed 
with a large expedition near Tampa Bay and started for 
the interior. The first thing he did was to commit a 
number of cruelties by which he made bitter enemies of 
the Indians, who destroyed the visitors, until only four 
were left. They managed after several years to work 



ii8 IN the; white housk. 

their way to the Pacific coast, where they found friends 
who cared for them. 

De Soto took a thousand men with him to Florida 
and followed in the footsteps of Narvaez. He displayed 
the same cruelty to the natives and reaped as he had 
sown„ He discovered the Mississippi in 1541, and was 
buried in its waters some months later, while less than 
half of his company, gaunt, ragged and starving, finally 
emerged from the wilderness. The experience of Don 
Tristan de Luna, with an army of 1,500, who entered 
Florida in 1559, was so similar that the particulars need 
not be given. 

The French planted a colony in Florida on the St. 
Johns in 1562. They treated the Indians well and were 
treated well by them. But a strong force of Spaniards, 
under Pedro Menendez, stealthily ascended the river in 
the night, attacked the French and killed and hanged 
one hundred and fifty, refusing tc give any quarter to 
the prisoners, though it was repeatedly offered to induce 
them to surrender. Most of those who fled were ship- 
wrecked on Anastasia Island, whither Menendez pursued 
them, received their surrender and hanged all except one 
or two whom he thought would be useful to him. 

And yet this unspeakable miscreant must be given the 
credit of having founded St. Augustine (1565), the first 
permanent European settlement within the present limits 
of the United States. 



CHAPTER XIL 

CUBA ITS EARLY HISTORY CRUELTIES OF THE SPANIARDS 

FAILURES OF THE PLANS TO WREST CUBA FROM 

SPAIN THE REBELLION OF 1 868-78 THE REBELLION 

BEGUN IN 1895 THE LEx\DERS SPAIN's VAIN EF- 
FORTS TO CONQUER THE PATRIOTS SYMPATHY OF THE 

UNITED STATES ^'BUTCHER WEYLEr'^ HIS INHUMAN 

COURSE AND ITS RESULTS OUR DUTY. 

We have glanced hastily over the infamous part taken 
by Spain in the settlement of the United States. At this 
time it will be of value to give a succinct account of her 
perfidious course concerning Cuba, the ''Queen of the 
Antilles." 

Cuba is 750 miles long, with an average width of 50 
miles. In size it is larger than Ireland, less than England, 
and lacks but a few mi^es of the area of the State O'f Penn- 
sylvania. It is mountainous at the southeast coast, where 
the Sierra Maestra attains an elevation in some places 
of a mile and a half, and extends from Cape de Cruz to 
Cape de Mayzi. The central portions contain rugged, 
hilly districts between Santa Clara and Puerto Principe, 
and also northwest of Trinidad, the remainder of the coun- 
try consisting of undulating and mostly well-watered 
plains. Sugar is the principal product, but the finest to- 
bacco in the world is grown. 

Cuba was discovered by Columbus on his first voyage 
in 1492. He supposed it formed a part of the mainland of 
India, since, as is well known, the great navigator never 
suspected he had discovered a new continent. The condi- 
tions in the island were favorable to Spanish colonization, 



I20 CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 

and, by 1520, it became the base of all operations against 
Mexico. Tlie Spaniards became enormously wealthy 
through the unpaid toil of the Indians, who were reduced 
to slavery. 

The cruelties of the conquerors were so fearful that the 
Indians died by hundreds and thousands. The heart of 
Las Casas, the Roman Catholic apostle to the Indians, 
was so touched by their sufferings that he appealed tO' the 
home government to protect them from extermination. 
Las Casas was given authority, but despite his utmost ef- 
forts their numbers rapidly diminished. As the only means 
of saving them the humane missionary proposed to bring 
the sturdy, toughened negroes from St. Domingo to take 
the places of the Indians in the mines and cane fields. The 
colonists acted upon the suggestion and it was thus that 
negro slavery was introduced into Cuba. 

Nothing short of death can extinguish the ferocious 
nature of a Spaniard, and the extermination of the native 
Cubans went on, while the atrocities perpetrated upon the 
tougher blacks so reduced their numbers that the slaves 
had to be recruited by importations from abroad. The 
Indians were finally killed of¥, and between that and the 
vigorous prosecution of the African slave trade the plant- 
ers did not prosper. Prior to 1762 60,000 slaves had been 
brought into Cuba and they were landed at the rate of a 
thousand annually for the following twenty-five years, 
when there was a great increase. Careful statistical writ- 
ers say that 335,000 slaves were brought into the country 
between 181 7 and 1842, and during the following ten 
years it was 45,000. These figures, which are authentic, 
show the dreadful mortality that prevailed among those 
unfortunate people. 

During the first quarter of the present century every 



CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. tJI 

continental portion of Spanish America secured its inde- 
pendence. How was it that Cuba failed to do so? 

Thousands of the Spaniards who remained loyal to the 
mother country were driven from the mainland and took 
refuge in Cuba and Porto Rico. Their sentiments and 
their capital and energy held the two islands immovable 
in loyalty. 

Havana was captured in 1762 by a British armament, 
but was restored within the following year, and previous 
to that it was twice almost destroyed by the French. The 
rule of the island has always been characteristically Span- 
ish. The head was a captain-general, who received his 
appointment from the home government and was in no 
way responsible to the people over whom he ruled. 

When slavery prevailed in our country there was a 
strong desire throughout the South for the annexation 
of Cuba. Many plans were formed for wresting it from 
Spain. A number of filibustering expeditions went thither, 
but all came to naught. Proix>sitions were made to Spain 
to sell, but she refused. In 1848 President Polk, through 
the American Minister at Madrid, and without any con- 
stitutional authority, offered $100,000,000 for the island, 
but the offer was rejected. 

Spain, however, was notified more than once that the 
United States would not permit Cuba to be transferred to 
any nation except herself. In 1849, after the famous fili- r 
bustering expedition under Lopez had failed. President [ 
Fillmore refused to unite with England and France in 
guaranteeing the posession of the island to Spain. 

It was on October 9, 1854, that a piece of American di- 
plomacy, anything but creditable to our country, was un- 
dertaken. James Buchanan, American Minister to Eng- 
land; John Y. Mason, Minister to France, and Pierre 
Soule, Minister to Spain, met at Ostend, Belgium, an(J 



122 CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 

drew up the ''Ostend Circular or Manifesto." This set 
forth that a sale of Cuba to the United States would be 
advantageous to both governments; but that if Spain re- 
fused to sell it was the duty of this country to "wrest it 
from her" rather than see it Africanized like San Do- 
mingo. Fortunately, the slavery question so occupied our 
own attention that this semi-official threat came to 
naught, for, as has been stated, the proceeding was noth- 
ing of which this country could feel proud. 

Spain was involved in civil war and a revolution in 1868 
resulting in the dethronement and exile of the coarse and 
corrupt Queen Isabella, and in the same year Cuba began 
her first real struggle for independence. The Madrid Min- 
istry in 1870 decreed that every slave at the age of 60 
should become free and all their ofifspring t)orn after that 
date should be free. This decree was never enforced, for 
the "loyal party" in Cuba would not permit it. The fight 
for freedom went on for ten years and was often charac- 
terized by great cruelty. In the spring of 1878 Martinez 
Campos, through his military energy and the granting of 
compromises, succeeded in quelling the rebellion. He of- 
fered pardon to all rebels who laid down their arms and 
restoration of confiscated property. 

Previous to this in 1870 our government tendered its 
good offices in behalf of peace and proposed the sale of 
the island to the Cubans. The offer, like all previous 
ones of parting with Cuba, was rejected by Spain. It re- 
quired 100,000 soldiers and $700,000,000 to bring that 
first rebellion to a close. 

As might have been anticipated Spain paid little or no 
regard to her pledges to Cuba, whose position became so 
intolerable that the people resolved to make one final ef- 
fort to cast off the tyranny that ground them to the very 
dust. 



CUBA'S EARIvY HISTORY. 123 

The first step was taken February 24, 1895, when a 
number of representative Cubans who had come together 
joined in declaring themselves independent. At that time 
they had no organization, but it did not take them long 
to secure one. Thousands of patriots were thrilled by the 
call to risk their lives and all in the battle for liberty. They 
flocked to the standard of revolt, were drilled and disci- 
plined by skilled officers, who speedily formed plans for 
prosecuting the campaign against the loyal troops, from 
whom they knew no mercy was to be expected. Their 
aim was to preserve free communication among them- 
selves throughout the island, gradually working their way 
as near as possible to the city of Havana, where Spain had 
her firmest foothold. 

The first forward step was taken on the 31st of March 
in the province of Santiago de Cuba, when General Anto- 
nio Maceo, his brother Jose, Crombet and Cebreco, all 
veterans tried by battle and fire, with twenty or more de- 
voted followers, landed at Duaba, near Baracoa, and unit- 
ed with a larger number of patriots who were eagerly 
awaiting them. They raised the standard of revolt and 
the flames of insurrection spread like a prairie fire. 

Less than two weeks later General Maximo Gomez and 
Jose Marti, v/ith several friends, came ashore at the south- 
eastern extremity of Cuba and, meeting Maceo, held a 
long consultation and agreed upon a plan of campaign, 
which was as follows: 

General Maceo was to remain in the province of Santi- .. 
ago, while Gomez went to Camaguey as general-in-chief 
of the army. Fighting speedily opened and continued 
with scarcely an intermission until the momentous 
events of 1898. In a desperate conflict at Boca de los 
Rios, on the 19th of May, Marti wag killed. The rebellion 



114 CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 

had assumed such formidable proportions that by Octo- 
ber there were 30,000 revolutionists in the field. 

The western division occupied the province of Puerto 
Principe and was commanded by General Gomez, Gen- 
eral Maceo having charge of the eastern division. The 
Spanish army, almost three times as numerous as that of 
the patriots, was under the command of Marshal Martinez 
de Campos, the best officer of Spain and the leader who 
brought the previous rebellion to a close. Unlike the 
majority of his countrymen he possessed traits of honor 
and believed in prosecuting war on civilized principles. 
He organized a plan of campaign that was the best possi- 
ble, but he was unable to make any substantial headway 
against the insurgents, who retained the advantage in the 
fighting that followed. 

To show the extent of the Cuban organization it may 
be said that when a meeting was held for the formation of 
a permanent government there were representatives from 
five of the six provinces into which the island is divided. 
This was in October, 1895, when Salvador Cisneros was 
made president; Carlos Ruloff, secretary of war; M'axima 
Gomez, general-in-chief, and Antonio Maceo, lieutenant- 
general. ^ 

In the vain effort to subdue the rebellion Spain sent 
nearly a quarter of a million soldiers to Cuba, to which 
were opposed less than 50,000 patriots, poorly armed but 
inspired by fervent patriotism. In the beginning of 1896 
the Cuban army was divided into five corps, the first four 
of which operated in the provinces of Santiago, Puerto 
Principe, Los Villa and Matanzas, and the last, sometimes 
referred to as the Invading Army, acted in Havana and 
Pinar del Rio. The situation may be simimed up by say- 
ing that the Spaniards held the seaports while the patriots 
controlled the rest of the island. 



CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 1^5 

The war of necessity was cruel, for the insurgents were 
treated as if pirates and outlaws. Spain would have de- 
lighted to annihilate every man, woman and child that 
opposed her torturing rule, but dared not dO' so through 
fear of retaliation and the interference of the United 
States. The patriots burned their own plantations to pre- 
vent their enemies from gathering the products, and 
shrank from no, sacrifice that could help their cause. 

The American people cannot help feeling a profound 
sympathy for any people struggling for freedom, for it 
was through such struggles, such suflferings and such 
deaths that we won our liberty. Although our govern- 
ment spent an immense amount of money and employed 
a large force to compel a strict observance of neutrality, 
it was impossible to prevent some citizens from landing 
arms, munitions and volunteers on the Cuban coast, 
where the patriots sorely needed and were waiting for 
them. Public meetings were held in many cities and the 
speeches from leading citizens throbbed with pity for the 
handful of patriots fignting the worst government on the 
face of the earth. 

Jose Marti founded a revolutionary party in the United 
States, composed of numerous clubs, whose presidents 
formed a council. Tlie Cuban cigar makers and em- 
ployees, numbering 18,000, contributed one-tenth of their 
wages and the product of one day's labor each week to 
the cause. In this manner $100,000 was gathered 
monthly. 

The Cubans had no lack of advocates on the floor of 
Congress. Many Insisted that belligerent rights should 
be granted them. The beneficent result of this would have 
been their elevation at once to the rank of a nation ; they 
could borrow money through the issue of bonds; grant 
letters of marque; have a flag that would be recognized; 



126 CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 

secure exchange of prisoners of war and humane treat- 
ment of their friends captured in battle, and, in brief, ac- 
quire a position that must bring independence. 

Now, while this would have been a boon that would 
have made us all rejoice, it cannot be denied that there 
was reason in the claim that by international law the Cu- 
bans were not entitled to such recognition. It was neces- 
sary for them at first to establish a stable government, as 
capable of administering all the departments and details 
as w^as the Southern Confederacy at the outset of the civil 
war. Until this was done the United States, profound as 
was its sympathy for them, must wait. 

Martinez de Campos, captain-general of Cuba, urged 
conciliatory measures upon his government, which re- 
sponded by removing him from command and appointing 
General Valeriano Weyler in his place. Weyler had 
proven himself a merciless wretch during the rebellion 
of 1868- 1878 and was, therefore, a man after Spain's own 
heart, one whom she delighted to honor, and to whose 
tigerish nature she was glad to intrust the lives of help- 
less old men, women and children. 

Weyler's course in Cuba speedily won him the appropri- 
ate title of "Butcher." He was always afraid of exposing 
himself to the bullets or machetes of the enemy, though 
he sent many announcements home that the island had 
been pacified. He wrenched an enormous private fortune 
. 'Tom his famishing soldiers, cheated his government and 
robbed the patriots. If any of his officers won a trifling 
victory he appropriated the honor to himself; he was 
continually making proclamations of what he had done 
and was about to do, and all were equally baseless of 
truth ; he did not care how many of his own soldiers died 
of disease and wounds so lon^ as he could gorge himself 
with spoils. 



CUBA'S EARLY HISTORY. 127 

His most inhuman proceeding was his ''reconcentrado" 
order. The reconcentrados of Cuba are the non-combat- 
ants. He commanded that all of them should come in 
from the country, where they were able to make a living 
for themselves, and herd in the cities, where the people 
were unable to provide them with food. The scenes that 
followed were like those in Armenia which horrified the 
world. Men, women and children wasted away and died. 
Babes were found mewling upon the famished breasts of 
their dead mothers ; strong men became crazed from the 
want of food, shrank to tottering skeletons and lay down 
and breathed their last. 

When the United States could bear it no longer she de- 
manded the removal of Weyler, and Spain, who began 
faintly to read the handwriting on the wall, complied, sup- 
planting him with General Ramon Blanco, who has 
proven himself a more merciful man. To save the per- 
ishing thousands, our Government sent immense quanti- 
ties of food to the reconcentrados. Committees went 
thither to superintend the distribution, and Clara Barton, 
the head of that blessed organization for ameliorating the 
miseries resulting from war, the Red Cross Society, spent 
weeks and months on the afflicted island, doing all she 
could to save those in whom the spark of life had not yet 
been extinguished. 

Despite everything that could be done the awful fact 
was established that more than two hundred thousand 
people were starved to death in Cuba during her last war 
for freedom, and all through the inhumanity of Spain. 

Americans began to ask one another: 

"How long shall this be permitted? Shall we stand 
acquitted on the great judgment Day if, with our power 
to end this appalling crime, we still refuse to lift a hand 
to do so? These Cubans are at our doors, their moanings 



12^ CUBA'S EARLY HISTORV. 

may almost be heard across the narrow stretch of water 
that flows between their island and our mainland; they 
look to us for relief, but we close our ears; we stand mute, 
motionless, unheeding, while they perish before our very 
eyes ; has not the time come for us to show to the world 
that the highest impulse that can nerve the arm of any 
government to smite is humanity?" 



CHAPTER XIII. 

DEATH OF GENERAL MACEO — THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT 

CONSUL-GENERAL LEE THE FIERCE FIGHTING IN 

CUBA THE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE REPORT OF 

THE BOARD OF INQUIRY TRYING POSITION OF PRESI- 
DENT m'kINLEY HIS FAITHFULNESS TO DUTY 

PATRIOTIC COURSE OF CONGRESS. 

A Startling blow to Cuban independence was struck on 
December 7, 1896, when General Antonio Maceo, second 
in command of the insurgent army, was killed. Dr. Zer- 
tucha, the confidential physician of Maceo, rode with him 
into ambush, v/hen a volley was fired which killed Maceo 
and the young son of Gomez, who was a volunteer in the 
war. It was a fearful charge to make against Dr. Zer- 
tiicha, but there is the best of reason to beheve he deliber- 
ately betrayed Maceo and was the direct cause of his death. 
The physician was permitted to surrender, and he received 
the kindest of treatment from his captors. Being a full- 
blooded Spaniard his conduct was in keeping with the 
character of that people. 

The Revolutionary Government of Cuba having been 
organized at Camaguey, September 19, 1895, this ad- 
ministration was elected, and installed at Yaza, October 
20, 1897. 

President, Bartolome Masso ; Vice-President, Domingo 
Mendez Capote ; Secretary of War, Jose B. Aleman ; Sec- 
retary of Foreign Affairs, Andres Morendo de la Torre; 
Secretary of the Treasury, Ernesto Font Sterling; Secre- 
tary of the Interior, Manuel Ramos Silva ; Assistant Sec- 
retary Gf War, Rafad d€ Cardenas; Assistant Secretary 



I30 M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION. 

of Foreign Affairs, Nicolas Alverdi; Assistant Secretary 
of the Treasury, Saturnio Larling. 

The General-in-Chief of the army in the field was Max- 
imo Gomez; the Lieutenant-General was Calixto Garcia. 
The headquarters of the Cuban Junta in New York were 
at No. 56 New street, Manhattan Borough. 

Jose Antonio Maceo was a mulatto, born in Santiago 
de Cuba in 1848. That he belonged to a fighting family 
is proven by the fact that his father and every one of his 
nine brothers were killed, one after the other, in the war 
for the independence of Cuba. This wonderful record 
equals that made by the "Fighting McCooks" in our own 
civil war. 

General Maceo was of dauntless courage and great mili- 
tary ability. He took a leading part in the first struggle, 
and by his brilliant defeat of Weyler at Guimaro, in 1873, 
won the major-generalship. When living in Havana, 
Maceo dressed with exquisite taste, and was regarded as 
a sort of dandy, but in the field he shared the privations 
and hardships of the privates, and v/as greatly beloved by 
them. He never touched wine or played a game of cards, 
and was an admirable type of the patriots who have fought 
so long and well for their freedom. 

No better appointment was ever made than when Presi- 
dent Cleveland sent General Fitzhugh Lee, the famous 
Confederate cavalry leader, ' as Consul-General for the 
United States at Havana. He entered upon his official 
duties, June 3, 1896, and from the first displayed excellent 
tact and judgment, as well as perfect fearlessness in the 
discharge of his duties, which were of the most difficult 
nature. There was a widespread and intense Hostility to 
Americans in Cuba, many of whom would have suffered 
imprisonment and death but for the courageous faithful- 
ness of General Lee, 



M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION. 131I 

When President McKinley was inaugurated General 
Lee sent his resignation to him; but the President knew 
the value of such an officer too well to allow him to 
withdraw from his post at so critical a time. He re- 
quested him to remain, and his patriotism led him un- 
hesitatingly to do so. His course in Havana won him 
the admiring gratitude of our Government and the whole 
American people. 

Fighting in Cuba went on with bitter fierceness on 
both sides. The immense disadvantage of the insurgents 
lay in their lack of arms and ammunition. Many were 
armed with old, worn-out muskets, and hundreds had no 
weapons at all except the machete, with which they did 
deadly execution at close quarters, but they fought all 
the more bravely on that account. Being thoroughly 
acclimated, they suffered less from sickness during the 
unhealthful rainy season than the Spaniards, thousands 
of whom succumbed to fevers or disease. 

The insurgents met the ferocious warfare of their 
enemies with warfare that was at times equally ferocious. 
Dynamite, ambuscade and fire were used because self- 
defense required their use. The most grotesque blunder 
that an enemy of Spain can make is to show her any 
generosity or chivalry in the conduct of a war against 
her. It is impossible to give a detailed account of the 
battles and skirmishes, nor would it be instructive to do 
so, for they were similar in their nature. Many a time 
the guns of the insurgents were heard in the streets of 
Plavana and caused consternation in the metropolis of 
the country. Prisoners were taken almost within sight 
of the city. The Spanish commanders established 
*'trochas," or dividing lines, which the patriots passed 
and repassed at will ; the messages to the mother country 
announcing the pacification of the island were followed 



132 M'k:ini.ey's trying position. 

by more savage fighting and the defeats of the royalis: 
forces; reinforcements were repeatedly sent across the 
ocean, to be decimated by disease and the machetes of 
the revolutionists; Spanish officers grew rich while their 
soldiers starved; misery was everywhere, the saddest 
feature of it all being that the reconcentrados and help- 
less ones were the chief sufferers. 

It is impossible to say how long this woeful condition 
would have lasted, for Spain was determined never to 
surrender her sovereignty over the island, and the patri- 
ots were equally resolute not to stop fighting until either 
all of them were killed or their independence was 
achieved. The fighting was mainly of a guerilla charac- 
ter, the royal forces holding the seaports while the in- 
surgents were masters of the interior. 

But all this was changed by the awful crime of Feb- 
ruary 15, 1898. The battleship Maine, while riding 
peacefully at anchor in the harbor of. Havana, was blown 
up at night, and two hundred and sixty-six of her officers 
and crew hurled into eternity. The news when first re- 
ceived seemed too incredible for belief. The country was 
dazed, but when the whole appalling truth became 
known the nation was horrified and the civilized world 
shocked. Then an intensity of righteous wrath stirred 
the people to an almost irrestrainable degree, and they 
demanded that the crowning infamy should receive the 
sternest retribution. 

And never v/as the self-poise and restraint of the 
American nation more impressively shown than in the 
days and weeks succeeding this horror. In his telegram 
announcing the calamity. Captain Sigsbee of the Maine 
asked for a suspension cf judgment on the part of all un^ 
til the truth should be known. His request was one with 
which compliance was hard, but it was just. President 



M'KINLBY'S TRYING POSITION. 133 

McKinley's whole nature was stirred by the woeful 
tragedy that sent so many brave sailors to the bottom 
of the sea without a moment's warning; but that strong, 
all-controlling sense of justice restrained him from taking 
any rash step. No matter how great the provocation, he 
was determined to be just. 

"If Spain is guilty of this crime, she shall be held to 
strict account, but first of all, let us make certain the 
guilt lies at her door," was the sentiment that guided 
him. 

The most competent naval board of inquiry that could 
be secured was appointed and began an investigation into 
the loss of the battleship. 

Their work was thorough and impartial. The friends 
of Spain insisted that the Maine was blown up from 
within, and that her officers and men were responsible 
for it. -v^ 

While the Americans believed otherwise, there was 
enough uncertainty in the matter to lead them to sus- 
pend judgment as requested. The Board of Inquiry 
made its report on the 21st of March, and its conclusion 
was in the following words: 

''The court finds that the loss of the Maine on the oc- 
casion named was not in any respect due to fault or 
negligence on the part oi any of the officers or members 
of the crew of said vessel. 

*Tn the opinion of the court the Maine was destroyed 
by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the 
partial explosion of two or more of her forward maga- 
zines. 

'The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing 
the responsibility for the destruction of the Maine upon 
any person or persons." 

This finding established the truth of what had been 



134 M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION 

suspected from the first, but ur. fortunately the guilty par- 
ties could not be named. It seems sirange that nothing 
more than a vague suspicion of the identity of the men 
who fired the mine could be obtained. It is not probable 
that the crime was directly instigated by the Spanish 
government, nor that General Blanco was involved 
(Consul-General Lee was positive on this point); but the 
criminals were the servants of Spain, and that country 
owed us the only reparation it was possible to make. 

Anticipating the verdict of this impartial board, the 
Spanish authorities went through the farce of a pretended 
investig:ation. Several of their divers made a partial ex- 
amination of the hull, and then coolly announced that the 
explosion had come from within, whereupon the home 
government, in the words of the country candidate for 
political honors, "hurled back our accusation with 
scorn/* 

President McKinley now found himself in the most 
trying situation conceivable. Behind him was the tem- 
pestuous wrath of the American nation clamoring for the 
punishment of the treacherous Spaniards, while, almost 
without exception, the call was equally loud for armed 
intervention in Cuba. While these two subjects were 
really distinct, resistless public sentiment would not per- 
mit them to remain so. The most effective punishment 
of Spain would be to wrest the "Queen of the Antilles" 
from her, and establish the struggling Cubans as their 
own masters. 

But William McKinley could never lose sight of the 
momentous fact that he was President of the United 
States. Upon his shoulders rested a greater responsibil- 
ity than upon any other man in the Western Hemisphere. 
He knew by personal experience what war is, and he 
dreaded it, as every right-thinking man dreads it; for it 



M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION. 135 

means unnumbered deaths, desolated hearthstones, or- 
phans, broken hearts and horrors beyond estimate. It 
is the last resort of a nation, and should never be em- 
ployed until diplomacy, arbitration, argument and per- 
suasion have been carried to the utmost limit. It is 
those who have never looked upon real war who are the 
first to advocate it, while those who have tasted its bitter 
cup are the last to favor it. It was the grim old hero, 
General Sherman, who described it in three forceful 
words: "War is hell." 

And yet there are times when it is necessary, and if 
there ever was a justification for an appeal to arms it 
was to save the dying Cubans, to throttle the hideous 
government and fling it so far from the New World that 
it would never dare set foot upon its soil again. 

It is at such times that the nation needs at its head one 
who is cool, calm, thoughtful, well-informed, deliberate, 
possessing not only a thorough knowledge of his coun- 
trymen, but above all, of the requirements of his exalted 
position, and a knowledge of the right course to pursue. 
President McKinley fully measured up to these trans- 
cendent requirements. He was an American, a soldier, 
a statesman, a patriot, but he held the helm of the Gov- 
ernment, and it was his to steer it to shipwreck or into 
the deep, smooth waters of safety. 

Congress will always have its im^pulsive, hot-headed 
members, who mean well, but who, fortunately for their 
country, generally remain in the minority. Could they 
have their way they would precipitate the United States 
into war upon trifling provocation, and bankrupt and 
ruin the nation. It is easy to allow ouf-'s self to be swept 
along with the current, but it takes a strong swimmer 
to face the other way and breast the stream with sturdy 
stroke. 



1S6 ; M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION. 

"Oh, for a day of Andrew Jackson in the White 
House!" exclaimed one of these headlong patriots, in 
the course of a heated discussion. 

Andrew Jackson was impulsive, courageous and re- 
gardless of consequences, when leading an armed force 
against the enemies of his country. He loved his friends 
and hated his enemies; he shrank from no step that he 
beHeved right, and yet when he sat in the President's 
chair none was more deliberate, cautious and considerate 
for the welfare of his country, when it was threatened 
by foreign complications. He consulted with the ablest 
advisers, and took each step with such care that he was 
certain of not being compelled to retreat. 

President McKinley followed the same wise course. 
He had one of the ablest of Cabinets, including the bril- 
liant Attorney-General Griggs, who had lately joined his 
council of constitutional advisers, and he advised with 
leading Democrats as well as members of his own polit- 
ical party. When the question of patriotism confronts 
us, we are all Republicans, Democrats, Populists, and 
whatever name is known in politics. 

One of the wisest rules is never to take an important 
step without first ''sleeping over it." The man who en- 
ters into a dispute with perfect control of his temper has 
already won half the battle. The United States is a great 
and powerful nation, and it can afford to be deliberate, 
for then it is sure of being right. 

The Americans are pre-eminently a patient and long- 
suffering people. When the correspondent of the Lon- 
don Times made a tour of this country, just prior to the 
civil war, he wrote that we were a great nation, but lacked 
patriotism. He studied us on the eve of one of the 
mightiest struggles in history, apparently absorbed in 
business, and heedless of the clouds that were gathering 



M'KINIvEY'S TRYING POSITION. 137 

in the sky, but never was an observer more mistaken. 
All that he saw changed in the twinkling of an eye when 
the peal of the cannon firing upon Fort Sumter resound- 
ed through the land. In the North and South men flew 
to arms. The peaceful thousands were transformed on 
the instant into patriots clamoring for places in the ranks. 
It is the good-natured man, the one slowest to anger, 
v/ho is the most dangerous when roused by some irresist- 
ible provocation. If the Americans are patient and long- 
suffering, their indignation is the more to be feared. As 
has been said, when they are stirred into action it is high 
time for their enemies to stand from under. 

The Senate, the most dignified branch of Congress, 
caught the war fever and shared it with the House, In 
the latter part of March resolutions were introduced into 
both branches recognizing the belligerency of the Cu- 
bans or their independence. The ''peace at any price" 
policy as it was termed was denounced, and the inde- 
pendence of Cuba was demanded as the only reparation 
Spain could make for the Maine crime. In the Senate 
alone four resolutions of similar import were introduced 
on the same day. Amid the excitement, intensifying 
every hour, and the expressed impatience with the Pres- 
ident's slowness, the situation was summed up by a lead- 
ing paper in^he following forceful words: 

'The country has for its President a statesman whose 
personal bravery and warmth of human emotions no one 
would think of questioning, but whose calm determina- 
tion to exhaust every possibility of peace with honor de- 
serves from his country the highest respect. 

"The country has a national Legislature patiently and 
loyally heeding the advice of the executive, although burn- 
ing hot with the sentiment that becomes a country like 



138 M'KINLEY'S TRYING POSITION. 

ours when in sight of a neighboring people struggling 
for liberty. 

"The country has an army and navy alive with the na- 
tional spirit, and ready for the performance of any duty 
that may be prescribed for them. 

"And it has a people, spreading over forty-five States, 
whom the fearful trial of the Maine disaster has shaken 
neither in dignity nor in understanding, and who in their 
sorrow over the loss of the Maine and in their longing 
to see the United States play its part in succoring a mal- 
treated American State, are more truly united and more 
intensely fired with a common patriotism than at any 
time since the making of the Constitution. Never since 
the beginning of their independence have Americans had 
occasion to be more proud and more hopeful of their 
country." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TPIE president's MESSAGE ON THE CUBAN QUESTION — 
PROMPT ACTION OF CONGRESS THE JOINT RESOLU- 
TION SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT ULTIMATUM TO 

SPAIN — CHARACTERISTIC SPANISH TRICKERY. 

At noon, April ii, President McKinley sent to Con- 
gress his message on the Cuban question. It was a 
lengthy and able document, in which in vigorous lan- 
guage he set forth the terrible effects of Spanish misrule 
in the island; recited the particulars of the Maine dis- 
aster, with the announcement that Spain wanted to arbi- 
trate the matter or submit it to an impartial investigation, 
and finally the President asked for authority to intervene 
to stop the war in Cuba at his own discretion, and with 
that he turned the whole question over to Congress, 
holding himself ready promptly to obey its instructions. 

The grounds for intervention were thus summed up: 

First — In the cause of humanity, and to put an end to 
the bart)arities, starvation and horrible miseries now ex- 
isting there, and which the parties to the conflict are 
either unable or unwilling to stop or mitigate. It is no 
answer to say this is all in another country, belonging to 
another nation, and is therefore none of our business. 
It is specially our duty, for it is right at our door. 

Second — We owe it to our citizens in Cuba to afford 
them that protection and indemnity for life and property 
which no government there can or will afford, and to 
that end to terminate th^ conditions that deprive them 
of legal protection. 



140 I>ROMPT ACTION 01^ CONGRESS. 

Third — Right to intervene may be justified by the very 
serious injury to the eommerce, trade and business of 
our people, and by the wanton destruction of property 
and devastation of the island. 

Fourth (and which is of the most importance) — The 
present condition of affairs in Cuba is a constant menace 
to our peace, and entails upon this Government an enor- 
mous expense. With such a conflict waged for years in 
an island so near us, and with which our people have 
such trade and business relations — when the lives and 
liberty of our citizens are in constant danger, and their 
property and themselves ruined — ^when our trading ves- 
sels are liable to seizure and are seized at our very door 
by warships of a foreign nation, the expeditions of fili- 
bustering that we are powerless to prevent altogether, 
and the irritating questions and entanglements thus aris- 
ing — all these and others that I need not mention, with 
the resulting strained relations, are a constant menace to 
our peace, and compel us to keep on a semi-war with a 
nation with which we are at peace. 

Previous to this Congress had unanimously placed 
$50,000,000 at the disposal of the President to be used 
in preparing the country for war that nearly every one 
believed probable if not inevitable. The standing army 
of the United States comprises only about 25,000 officers 
and enlisted men, and the long term of peace had left 
the country in an unprepared condition for hostilities. 
There was lack of ammunition, of armaments and of 
men. The most vigorous preparations were set on foot; 
recruiting offices were opened; new cruisers and ships 
were bought, the preparation of others hurried, and the 
naval and v;ar offices hummed with activity. 

The moM feipressive feature of all this was the fervent 
vspirit ©f patndlism that permeated the whok CQUirttry. 



PROMPT ACTION OF CONGRJESS. 141 

Students at colleges asked by the hundreds the privilege 
of volunteering; thousands of veterans of the civil war 
demanded a place in the ranks; even men who had fought 
in the Texan war of independence sixty-two years be- 
fore begged for a chance to aim and fire their guns for 
their country. One of these, a veteran of ninety, gave a 
war dance before his delighted friends, who carried him 
on their shoulders and cheered him to the echo. 

There was less hurrah and demonstration in the South, 
but the war spirit was fully as intense as in the North. It 
being understood that General Fitzhugh Lee was to have 
an important command, the old Confederates applied by 
the thousands for a chance of serving under him. Had 
the Government issued a call for a million volunteers, 
more than that number would have rushed forward in 
response. It was a thrilling and sublime picture of 
American patriotism that wiped out forever the last ves- 
tige of feeling between the sections that had fought in 
the War for the Union. 

In his message to Congress the President asked au- 
thority to take measures "to secure a full and final termi- 
nation of hostilities between the government of Spain 
and the people of Cuba; to secure in the island the estab- 
lishment of a stable government capable of maintaining 
order and observing its international obligations, insur- 
ing peace and tranquility, and the security of its citizens 
as well as our own, and finally requested authority to use 
the military and naval forces of the United States as may 
be necessary for these purposes.'' 

Two days later the House of Representatives re- 
sponded by giving the President all and more than he 
asked, and that, too, by the overwhelming majority of 
322 to 19. Instead of granting him authority and power, 
the House resolution laid a command upon the Kxecu- 



I4i PROMAt ACTION OF CONGRESS. 

tive, who was "authorized and directed" to intervene and 
stop the war in Cuba. DecHning to leave the time for 
such action indefinite, the House provided that the inter- 
vention should be "at once." Instead of authorizing in- 
tervention for the purpose of establishing a "stable gov- 
ernment, capable of maintaining order and observing its 
international obligations," it directed him to establish "by 
the free action of Cuba a stable and independent govern- 
ment of their own." Moreover, he was authorized and 
empowered to use all our military and naval forces to 
carry out these purposes. 

The usually ponderous Senate having swung into line 
quickly took the lead in patriotic legislation. On April 
1 6, by a vote of 67 to 21, it passed a joint resolution 
which, leaving out of consideration its recognition of the 
existing republican government of Cuba, dropped the 
word "intervention" altogether and declared that the peo- 
ple of Cuba are and of right ought to be free and inde- 
pendent. It demanded the immediate relinquishment by 
Spain of its authority and government in the island, and 
the immediate withdrawal of its land and naval forces 
from Cuba and Cuban waters. Instead of "authorized 
and empowered," it "directed and empowered" the Presi- 
dent to use our military and naval forces to expel Spain. 

On April 18 the House accepted the terms of the Sen- 
ate resolution in place of its own, with the single excep- 
tion of the clause relating to the immediate recognition 
of the Masso provisional government. 

This programme ended all possibility of further delay 
through further diplomatic negotiations, and instead of 
throwing upon the President the fearful responsibility 
of action that meant war, Cuban independence was recog- 
nized and Spain was notified to leave Cuba under penalty 
of bein? driven out. 



PROMPT ACTION OF CONGRESS. 143 

The President signed the joint Cuban resolutions be- 
tween eleven and twelve o'clock, April 20. The under- 
standing was that the ultimatum to Spain, demanding 
that the Spanish troops be withdrawn from Cuba would 
be handed to the Spanish Ministry by Minister Wood- 
ford, our representative at Madrid, on the following 
morning. The following is the text of this important 
document : 

"April 20, 1898. 
"To Woodford, Minister, Madrid : 

"You have been furnished with the text of a joint 
resolution voted by the Congress of the United States on 
the 19th inst. — approved to-day — in relation to the pacifi- 
cation of the Island of Cuba. 

"In obedience to that act, the President directs you 
to immediately communicate to the Government of Spain 
said resolution, with the formal demand of the Govern- 
ment of the United States that the Government of Spain 
at once relinquish its authority and goverment in the 
Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces 
from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

"In taking this step, the United States hereby disclaims 
any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris- 
diction or control over said island except for the pacifica- 
tion thereof, and asserts its determination when that is ac- 
complished to leave the government and control of the 
island to its people, under such free and independent 
government as they may establish. 

"If, by the hour of noon on Saturday next, the 23d day 
of April, instant, there be not communicated to this Gov- 
ernment by that of Spain a full and satisfactory response 
to this demand and resolution, whereby the ends of peace 
in Cuba shall be assured, the President will proceed, with- 



144 PROMPT ACtlON OF CONGRESS. 

out further notice, to use the power and authority en- 
joined and conferred upon him by the said joint resolu- 
tion to such extent as may be necessary to carry the same 
into effecto Sherman/' 

Even in so grave a matter as this, Spain displayed her 
usual trickery and lack of honor. So soon as the Presi- 
dent had signed the resolution, he notified Senor Polo y 
Bernabe, the Spanish Minister, who at once requested 
his passports, which were handed to him at his residence 
by an official of the State Department. He left Washing- 
ton at seven o'clock the same evening, in a special car for 
Canada, well guarded by officers to prevent all possible 
annoyance. 

Just before starting the Spanish Minister was asked a 
number of questions, his replies to which may be summed 
up thus : 

*'Spain has been humiliated to the last degree and will 
suffer no longer. She has exhausted every possible and 
honorable means to avert war and will not submit to any 
condition that attacks her sovereignty over her own coun- 
try. The war will last till Spain shows her superiority 
over the United States. As to a revolution or civil war in 
my country, the Spaniards have enough patriotism to 
unite and defend their common country from the unjust 
attacks of the Yankees. They will raise no disturbance, 
because they know full well that the people of the United 
States base their hopes of success on a disruption of the 
kingdom, and the Spaniards will not give the Yankees 
the pleasure of seeing their predictions come true. As 
for Don Carlos (knov/n as the pretender to the throne of 
"'oain), he will take no advantage of this occasion to 

^e the throne. The chief cause of the present condition 
\irs is first, the insurgents, and, second, the adven- 



PROMPT ACTION OF CONGRESSo 145 

turous spirit of the Yankees in taldng the part of the reb- 
els in Cuba against the mother country, and hoping there- 
by to enlarge their own country. But they will find they 
are mistaken. War might have been averted by the 
United States not mixing in affairs where she has no 
business, especially when it was a matter that concerned a 
friendly nation and one of its provinces. The outcome 
will be the final triumph and victory of the Spanish arms 
over the United States. Should the European powers in- 
tervene, I am confident they will uphold the Queen regent 
in defending the kingdom of Spain against the vile attacks 
of the United States." 

"Butcher Weyler," as was to be expected, had his 
views to set forth. When he found three thousand miles 
of ocean between him and the United States, he became 
very brave and expressed the wish for an opportunity to 
chastise our President for his sentiments. He declared 
further that when our troops reached Cuba, the yellow 
fever would destroy half of them and the Spanish soldiers 
would "take care" of the rest. 

The characteristic trick to which Spain resorted in this 
business was respecting the deliverance of our ultimatum 
by Minister Woodford to that country. It was cabled to 
Madrid in the English language, reaching there on 
Wednesday night, a copy was sent to the Spanish authori- 
ties, read by the members of the ministry and not deliv- 
ered to Minister Woodford until the following morn- 
ing. Before he had time to present it to the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, the government notified him that rela- 
tion? between the two governments had ceased. Con- 
sequently he was unable to submit his note, since he was 
merely an American citizen without any official standmg 
a^ the Spanish court. No other nation in Christendom 
would have descended to so contemptible a trick. 



146 PROMPT /iCTION OF CONGRESS. 

While the Spanish Minister, after authorizing an in* 
suiting interview with a representative of the press, was 
escorted out of our country and protected from every an- 
noyance, it was not so with the American Minister. 

Since his passports were sent to him, before he could 
carry out the instructions of his Government, nothing 
was left for General Woodford to do except to take his 
departure. He notified President McKinley of the treat- 
ment he had received, sent a courteous note to Pio Gul- 
lon, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, placed the in- 
terests of the United States in charge of the British Em- 
bassy, ordered all the other American consuls to leave the 
country immediately, and then set them the good ex- 
ample, having previously sent the members of his family 
away. 

When the train on which General Woodford was a pas- 
senger reached Vallodolid, a mob surrounded it with 
furious cries of "Death to the Yankees !" smashed the 
windows and made desperate efforts to kill the ex-minis- 
ter, he being rescued with great difficulty by the civil 
guard. 

Upon reaching Tolosa, and while General Woodford 
wa^ peacefully sleeping in his berth, his colored valet 
awoke him in great excitement with the news that a detec- 
tive and a sergeant of the civil guard had boarded the 
train with the determination to remove his private secre- 
tary, on the charge that he was a Spanish subject. Gen- 
eral Woodford confronted the policeman with an indig- 
nant protest, declaring that the secretary was a British 
citizen. The officers denied this, whereupon General 
V/oodford refused to argue the matter further, and, plac- 
ing himself in the doorway of his secretary's apartments, 
showed his American pluck by declaring that he would 
resist the capture of the secretary to the last. A fellow 



PROMPT ACTION OF CCTsGRKSS. 147 

passenger, at Woodford's request, warned the officers in 
Spanish that the minister had placed the secretary under 
the protection of the British flag and he would hold his 
station in front of his assistant's apartments until the 
Spanish frontier was crossed. No nation that flings its 
emblem to the breeze extends more effective protection 
to her citizens than Great Britain. It has been said that 
if an Englishman's ears are unwarrantably cufifed in a for- 
eign country, the act is promptly followed by the arrival 
of a British squadron, with notice to the offender that his 
choice lies between making an apology and paying an in- 
demnity, or being blown off the face of the earth. This 
paternal care of its subjects is one of the most admirable 
features of British rule. The Spanish officers, even in 
their fierce hatred of the secretary, who was of Spanish 
birth, knew better than to rouse the wrath of the English 
lion. They withdrew and Minister Woodforii suilereti no 
further molestation from his enemies. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Spain's defiant action — the calmness op the presi- 
dent PROMPT action by OUR GOVERNMENT THE 

ANOMALOUS SITUATION DECLARATION OF WAR BY 

CONGRESS. 

In the ultimatum forwarded by our Government to 
Spain that country was given until the following Saturday 
at noon to return her answer, but, as has been shown, 
the trick of the Spanish ministry shut off all possibility of 
Minister Woodford delivering the ultimatum, while the 
sending to him of his passports was equivalent of itself to 
a declaration of war. It was established, therefore, that 
the discourteous act was Spain's defiant answer, and it 
was only throwing away important tim.e to v/ait another 
hour. 

President McKinley called a Cabinet meeting, at which 
tlie matter was discussed in all its bearings. They were 
able men who thus gathered to consider one of the most 
momentous questions that had ever come before them for 
consideration. The action of Spain was exasperating, 
and thousands of patriotic Americans throughout the 
country clamored for war. The slogan "Remember the 
Maine !" was angrily shouted from multitudes of throats, 
and was a fair expression of the sentiment of the people. 

Nothing, hov/ever, could be more admirable than the 
calm poise of the President and his councillors. No mat- 
ter how deep their feelings personally, they never forgot 
the interests of their native land, nor the fact that war 
should be the last resort of a nation, to be accepted when 



SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 149 

all other resources have failed. The glory of battle thrills 
the nerves and stirs the blood, but there is always the in- 
evitable background of death, wounds, sufferings and 
desolate hearthstones. 

Of the President himself, a leading journal had these 
truthful words : 

''The wise man has said that 'He that is slow to anger 
is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit 
than he that taketh a city.' Under the masterful leader- 
ship of the President this nation has been slow to anger, 
and has well ruled his spirit. Having achieved those 
higher ends, it will not miss the lower. It will show itself 
mighty, and it will take the city of its foe." 

At the Cabinet meeting to which reference has been 
made, it was agreed that Spain had given her reply to the 
ultimatum, and that there should be no more delay in 
carrying out the directions of Congress contained in the 
joint resolution approved by the President on the pre- 
vious day (April 20). As quickly as possible, orders were 
sent to Captain Sampson, commander of the Atlantic 
squadron, to proceed at once to the blockade of the Cuban 
ports. The sailors who had been waiting "on edge" 'for 
weeks for the word, received it with cheers, and the gal- 
lant Sampson, soon to be promoted to the highest rank, 
was as delighted as his men to carry out his instructions. 
He headed for Cuba, capturing a Spanish merchantman 
on the way, and proceeded without delay to complete the 
investment of the most important portion of the island. 

At the afternoon session of the Cabinet it was decided 
to blockade the Cuban ports, without any attack on the 
defenses of Havana; to blockade Manila and other places 
in the Philippine Islands by the Asiatic squadron under 
Commodore Dewey; to retain the frying squadron under 
Commander Schley at Hampton Roads until further or- 



I50 SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 

ders; to establish a base of supplies in Cuba by Captain 
Sampson's squadron, and to organize a military expedi- 
tion to occupy this base within one week and to protect 
it from attack by Spanish troops. 

War having- been fairly launched, the President, agree- 
ably to the provisions of the military bill passed by Con- 
gress, issued a call for 125,000 vo/unteers, the response 
to which was so enthusiastic that he could have had five 
time the number for the simple asking. 

The President saw that the situation was an anomalous 
one. He and his associates knew that war was already 
in progress, but there had been no formal declaration of 
war. Congress by resolution had given the President 
authority to use the land and naval forces of the United 
States to drive Spain from the soil and waters of Cuba. 
It would seem that this was all the authority that could 
be needed, even to the extent of sending a fleet across 
the ocean to attack Spain itself, but the resolutions only 
directed him to compel Spain to relinquish control over 
Cuba. Whatever may have been the intention of Con- 
gress, that body had given no specific instructions to do 
anything else. 

Always deliberate and determined to be right, the 
President decided to ask Congress for the broadest au- 
thority to use the land and naval forces of the United 
States against Spain, to secure which it was necessary 
that there should be a formal declaration of war against 
that country by Congress. On Monday, April 25, he 
sent the following communication to Congress: 

"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America: 
"I transmit to the Congress for its consideration and 
appropriate action copies of the correspondence recently 



SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 151 

had with the representative of Spain in the United States, 
with the United States Minister at Madrid, and through 
the latter with the Government of Spain, showing the ac- 
tion taken under the joint resolution approved April 20, 
1898, 'for the recognition of the independence of the peo- 
ple of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain 
relinquish its authority and government in the island of 
Cuba and to withdraw its land and naval forces from 
Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President to 
use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry 
these resolutions into effect.' 

"Upon communicating to the Spanish Minister in 
Washington the demand which it became the duty of 
the Executive to address to the Government of Spain in 
obedience to said resolution, the Minister asked for his 
passports and withdrew. The United States Minister at 
Madrid was in turn notified by the Spanish Minister for 
Foreign Affairs that the withdrawal of the Spanish repre- 
sentative from the United States had terminated diplo- 
matic relations between the two countries, and all offi- 
cial communications between their respective representa- 
tives ceased therewith. I commend to your especial at- 
tention the note addressed to the United States Minister 
at Madrid by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs 
on the 2 1st inst., whereby the formal notification was 
conveyed. It will be perceived therefrom that the Gov- 
ernment of Spain, having cognizance of the joint resolu- 
tion of the United States Congress, and in view of the 
things which the President was thereby required and au- 
thorized to do, responds by treating the reasonable de- 
mands of this Government as measures of hostility, fol- 
lowing with that instant and complete severance of rela- 
tions by its actions which, by the usage of nations, accom- 
panies an existent state of war between sovereign powers. 



152 SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 

"The position of Spain being thus made known and 
the demands of the United States being denied with a 
complete rupture of intercourse by the act of Spain, I 
have been constrained, in exercise of the power and au- 
thority conferred upon me by the joint resolution afore- 
said, to proclaim, under date of April 22, 1898, a block- 
ade of certain ports of the north coast of Cuba, lying be- 
tween Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and of the port of 
Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba, and further, in 
exercise of my constitutional powers, and using the au- 
thority conferred upon me by the act of Congress, ap- 
proved April 22, 1898, to issue my proclamation dated 
April 23, 1898, calling forth volunteers in order to carry 
into effect the said resolution of April 20, 1898. Copies 
of these proclamations are hereunto appended. 

'Tn view of the measures so taken, and with a view to 
the adoption of such other measures as may be necessary 
to enable me to carry out the expressed will of the Con- 
gress of the United States in the premises, I now recom- 
mend to your honorable body the adoption of a joint 
resolution declaring that a state of war exists between the 
United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, and 
I urge speedy action thereon, to the end that the defini- 
tion of the international status of the United States as 
a belligerent power may be made known, and the asser- 
tion of all its rights and the maintenance of all its duties 
in the conduct of a pubHc war may be assured. 

"William M'Kinley. 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, April 25, 1898." 

This message was accompanied by copies of the Presi- 
dent's proclamation calling for troops and announcing 
the blockade of the Cuban ports, together with a state- 
ruent of the circumstances attending the rupture of diplo- 



SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 153 

matic relations with Spain by the handing of his pass- 
ports to Minister Woodford at Madrid and to Minister 
Polo at Washington. 

The message and documents were referred to the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, which held a session at once 
and speedily reported the following hill: 

"A bill declaring that war exists beteen the United 
States of America and the Kingdom of Spain: 

''Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States of America, in Congress 
assembled, 

"First. That war be, and the same is hereby, declared 
to exist, and that war has existed since the 21st day of 
April, A. D. 1898, including said day, between the 
United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain. 

"Second. That the President of the United States be, 
and he here'by is, directed and empowered to use the en- 
tire land and naval forces of the United States, and to 
call into the actual service of the United States the militia 
of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary 
to carry this act into efTfect." 

It is worth recording that the time occupied in receiv- 
ing the report, reading the bill and declaring it passed 
was only one minute and forty-seven seconds. The vote 
was unanimous and was received with great applause. 
The bill was promptly sent to the Senate, from which a 
message was soon received announcing its passage with- 
out amendment. It took but a few minutes for Speaker 
Reed to sign it, when it was enrolled and sent to the Sen- 
ate, here the Vice-President attached his signature and 
returned the bill to the House for presentation to the 
President, who, it hardly need be said, was as prompt as 
his predecessors in signing the important measure. 

It perhaps was natural that the ardent friends in Con- 



154 SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 

gress of Cuba should differ in some of their views over 
the best steps to be taken for her rehef. Senator Turpie 
of Indiana unsuccessfully urged the committee to recog- 
nize the Cuban insurgents as belligerents. He offered 
an amendment to the same effect, when the bill was re- 
ceived in the Senate, supporting it with a speech in which 
he took the ground that the Cubans were Spanish sub- 
jects, and that the United States by declaring war against 
Spain and her dependencies declared war against the 
Cubans, for the reason that so long as their political 
status was not recognized, the United States was bound 
to recognize Cuba as a dependency of Spain, and make 
war upon it, regardless of the well-known divisions ex- 
isting in that island as between loyal Spaniards and 
Cuban insurgents. Unless the United States recognized 
either the independence of the republic of Cuba or 
granted to the people of Cuba, then in arms against the 
Spanish Government, the rights of belligerents it could 
not, he insisted^ under international law, make any 
distinction between the Spaniards who were loyal to their 
own and those Vv^ho were in insurrection against their 
own. Because of this, the Senator thought there should 
be coupled with the declaration of war a recognition of 
the belligerency of the insurgents, thereby placing them 
upon such political footing that they could become al- 
lies of the United States. 

Senator White of California could not see why there 
should be any declaration of war at all, since Spain by 
severing her diplomatic relations with the United States 
had practically declared war against this country. Mr, 
Allen of Nebraska offered an amendment fixing the date 
of the beginning of the war on February 15, the day of 
the blowing up of the Maine in Havana harbor, but Mr. 
Allen was convinced of his mistake when he was re- 



SPAIN'S DEFIANT ACTION. 155 

minded that the two countries had been engaged in di- 
plomatic negotiations since that date, a fact which made 
it absolutely impossible that there should have been war 
at that time. As has been already stated, none of the 
offered amendments was adopted, the bill being passed 
hy a viva voce vote as received from the House. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

VARIOUS TERMS USED IN MILITARY AND NAVAL OPERA- 
TIONS RELATIVE RANK AND PAY IN THE ARMY AND 

NAVY. 

In giving a biography of President McKinley it is not 
our purpose to include a history of the war between the 
United States and Spain, but since the two are so inti- 
mately associated our work would be incomplete without 
an intelligent survey of one of the most important epochs 
in our history that is identified with his administration. 

The war was responsible for a number of terms which 
many people understand but imperfectly; and it may be 
as well to give here some explanation of the m.ore impor- 
tant of these. In the olden times, before the use of steam, 
a ''ship of the line" was a man-of-war strong enough to 
take its place in the line of battle. The successor in mod- 
ern times is the ''battleship," which carries the largest 
guns and is heavily armored. Exclusive of armament the 
cost of each battleship is about $3,000,000. With the ex- 
ception of the Kearsarge, each battleship is named after a 
State of the Union. 

Second in fighting value is the "cruiser," whose speed 
is superior to that of the battleship. Each is named after 
somie American city. An armored cruiser has side and 
deck armor, but it is not so strongly protected in that re- 
spect as a battleship. A protected cruiser has deck armcr 
only, and an unprotected cruiser has no armor at all, 
though it may carry heavy guns. Among these are the 
transatlantic and Gulf "liners," chartered for naval ser- 
vice by our government. 

A gunboat is iwnall, of light draught, intended for gun 

A. 



MILITARY AND NAVAIy TBRMS. iSf 

power, rather than speed. The name is applied to any 
small boat fitted up with one or more guns. The "co'm- 
posite gunboats" are a special class that were added to the 
navy. 

The Monitor of the civil war received its name from 
Ericsson, its inventor, and boats of that character form the 
class known as monitors. They are of light draught, lie 
very low in the water and all are heavily armored. They 
carry on their deck one or two revolving turrets, con- 
taining one or more enormous guns. They are highly 
effective in harbor and coast operations, but at sea are 
clumsy and slow. The old Monitor foundered in a storm 
off Cape Hatteras, before the close of the war. 

The name *'ram" is descriptive of its character, its use 
being to butt the enemy's vessels. It is strong and fast, 
and in charging against a ship is capable, if a fair chance 
is offered, of crushing in its side. At present there is only 
one ram among the navies of the world; that is our Ka- 
tahdin. 

When the expression ^'converted vessel" is used it 
means one that has been altered and armed from a tug, 
merchantman, revenue cutter or something similar. 

Much confusion results from the rating of a ship, which 
is not, as formerly, determined by the number of guns 
carried, but by the size of the vessel. It is of the first rate 
when its displacement is 5,000 tons or more; it is of the 
second rate when the displacement is between 3,000 and 
5,000 tons; of the third rate when between 3,000 and 1,000 
tons, while the fourth rate includes all below 1,000 tons. 
It will be remembered, therefore, that the rating of a ship 
does not include its absolute fighting value, but the rela- 
tive importance of different vessels of the same type. It 
might easily happen that a cruiser of the second class 
would master in close battle one of the first class. 



158 MILITARY AND NAVAL TERMS. 

Many references are made to torpedo boats and de- 
stroyers. Our government not long ago purchased the 
right to use the Whitehead torpedo, the terrible weapon 
which has made the navies of other nations so powerful. 
This torpedo is a cylindrical steel instrument, several feet 
long, eighteen inches in diameter, the forward end pointed 
and the rear provided with fin-like rudders, to give it 
accuracy in flight. It weighs 835 pounds and has a for- 
ward compartment charged with 250 pounds of gun cot- 
ton, one of the most destructive explosives known. 

The torpedo tube is in reality a gun, with the torpedo 
as a projectile, it being discharged by means of com- 
pressed air or a small charge of powder. It passes through 
the water instead of the air, and is driven by a propeller, 
set going by the act of discharge and worked by means 
of compressed air. It will dart through the water at 
high speed and with remarkable accuracy for a half mile, 
though its efifective range is considered about a third of 
a mile. The depth of its flight is regulated by horizontal 
rudders. Sometimes the weapon is discharged below the 
water line, but generally above it. The instant it strikes a 
solid substance, like the side of a ship, the gun cotton ex- 
plodes with awful force, spreading destruction and death 
in all directions. What a shock it rriust give a person on 
board a vessel to catch a glimpse of this horrible missile 
as it darts through the water, straight for the ship upon 
whose deck he is standing! The regular crew of a tor- 
pedo boat consists of sixteen men and four officers, but 
a few more are required on the larger boats. The service 
is of the most dangerous character conceivable, the meth- 
od of attack being as follows : 

The speed of the torpedo boat is the highest obtainable, 
approaching that of many railway trains, or thirty-eight 
miles ?-n hour. The crew starts toward the vessel selected 



MIIvITARY AND NAVAL TERMS. 159 

for attack at the greatest speed until within torpedo range, 
when the boat swings around and fires the tubes from 
amidship or the stern, or from both in quick succession, 
and then bends every energy toward getting out of range. 
If the approach of the torpedo boat has been discovered 
by an enemy they concentrate their fire upon the de- 
stroyer from a distance of three or four miles and keep it 
up incessantly from their rapid-fire guns and all weapons 
that can be brought to bear. It seems scarcely possible 
for any torpedo boat to attack an enemy's vessel by day- 
light without being destroyed long before it comes with- 
in its own range. Dark nights, when the movements can 
be hidden, are the only time when there is a chance of 
success, and even then the officers and crew of the little 
boat literally take their lives in their hands. At the time 
of this writing no decisive test of the effectiveness of tor- 
pedo boats in actual warfare has been made. 

It will be remembered that the vessels of all navies are 
provided with powerful searchlights, which turn sections 
of the darkest night into day. When ordinary watchful- 
ness is used the approach of the frightful engine of de- 
struction is almost certain to be detected. One well-plant- 
ed shot will send it to the bottom, besides v/hich the boat 
is exposed to destruction from the torpedo-boat destroy- 
ers of the enemy. 

These craft are simply enlarged torpedo boats, possess- 
ing enormous speed and carrying several large guns. 
Their mission is to overtake and sink the torpedo boats. 
It would seem that the appalling peril that attends the 
management of a torpedo boat would make it hard to se- 
cure officers and crews, and yet the service, no doubt be- 
cause of its fearful danger, is very attractive to the young- 
er officers of the navy. 

Our equipment of craft of this class has been very de^ 



l6o MILITARY AND NAVAIv TERMS. 

fective as compared with the navies of other nations ; but 
the Americans are the most inventive people in tlie world, 
and m.ay be depended upon to revolutionize naval warfare 
should the need ever arise. One astonishing invention, 
follov/ing close upon the cessation of hostilities, was the 
submarine torpedo boat, the most noted of which is the 
plunger, built in Baltimore from designs by the inventor, 
Mr. John P. Holland. It is eighty-five feet long, with 
a breadth ol eleven and one-half feet and a displacement 
of i68 tons. It has made a number of successful trips 
entirely hidden under water, and no one can now doubt 
that the submarine boat v/ill have an important part to 
play in coming naval conflicts. 

And now, a word or two in explanation of the technical 
terms used in describing naval battles and movements. 
Thus, the "armament" of a vessel is often referred to. It 
m.eans all the cannon on a ship, the weight and number of 
which decide the strength of a ship's armament. ''Great 
guns" includes those of six-inch caliber or over. In all 
such the projectiles and the explosives are made up sepa- 
rately. The ordnance of less caliber ha^ its projectile and 
explosive put up as one whole, and they are known as 
''rapid-fire guns." The gun which fires shot and shell by 
automatic mechanism, not using small arms ammunition, 
is a "machine-gim." 

The name ''armor" is sufficiently descriptive as applied 
to a war vessel. The steel wall, sometimes a foot and a 
half thick, built up from below and inclosing the lower 
half or more of the revolving turret, holding the heaviest 
guns of the ship, is known as the "barbette." It is de- 
signed not only to shield the turret, but to protect the 
turning gear of the turret. 

When the battery of a ship is referred to, it means a 



MILITARY AND NAVAL TERMS. i6i 

number of guns grouped together and so considered, and 
it also signifies the place where they are mounted. 

A term often heard is the "conning tower" of a battle- 
ship. This is placed just forward and at the base of the 
steel military mast, with the pilot house directly over it. 
During battle, however, the latter is deserted for a safer 
one, the steerage room aft and well below. The conning 
tower, heavily armored, is intended specially for the com- 
mander, who from' that post directs everything by means 
of telephones and speaking tubes connecting all parts of 
the ship. The place is hot and stuffy and looked upon 
with so much disfavor b}^ our leading commanders that 
they will not make use of it during an engagement, pre- 
ferring freedom of movement even though it is accom- 
panied by dangerous exposure. 

When the ''displacement" of a vessel is referred to it 
means the weight of the water in tons displaced by the 
craft. 

The rate of speed at sea is always reckoned at so many 
"knots." A knot is a nautical mile, which is about one- 
sixth more than a statute mile of 5,680 feet. Thus if a 
steamer attains a speed of eighteen knots an hour it is 
equivalent to about twenty-one ordinary miles. 

The ships are provided with a certain number of troops, 
intended for military service at dockyards or on ship- 
board. They are simply soldiers on the water, ai*d are 
known as "marines." 

It may be interesting to know the corresponding ranks 
in the army and navy. 

Arm.y. Navy. 

Second Lieutenant Ensign. 

First Lieutenant. Lieutenant (Junior). 

Captain Lieutenant. 

Major Lieutenant-Commander. 



l62 MIIvITARY AND NAVAI, TERMS. 

Army. Navy. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Commander. 

Colonel Captain. 

Brigadier-General Commodore. 

Major-General Rear-Admiral. 

Lieutenant-General Vice- Admiral. 

General Admiral. 

The grades of lieutenant-general and general in the army 
And of vice-admiral and admiral in the navy have been 
abolished, but Congress can revive them at its pleasure. 

The pay of army officers in active service is as fol- 
lows : 

First After After After After 

5 Years' 5 Years' 10 Years' 15 Years' 20Yrs' 

Service. Service. Service. Service. S'vice. 

Major-General $7,500 

Brigadier-General 5,500 

Colonel 3,500 $3,850 $4,200 $4,500 $4,500 

Lieutenant-Colonel 3,000 3,300 3,600 3,900 4,000 

Major 2,500 2,750 3,000 3,250 3,500 

Captain, mounted 2,000 2,200 2,400 2,600 2,800 

Captain, not mounted 1,800 1,980 2,160 2,340 2,520 

1st Lieutenant, mounted 1,600 1,760 1,920 2,080 2,240 

1st Lieutenp.nt, not mounted.. 1,500 1,650 1,800 1,950 2,100 

2d Lieutenant, mounted 1,500 1,650 1,800 1,950 2,100 

2d Lieutenant, not mounted.. 1,400 1,540 1,680 1,820 1,960 

The pay of naval officers is : 

On leave 
On shore or waiting 
At sea. duty. orders. 

Rear-Admlrals , $6,000 $5,000 $4,000 

Commodores 5,000 4,000 3,000 

Captains 4,500 3,500 2,800 

Commanders .... 3,500 3,000 2 300 

Leiutenant-Commanders 2,800 2,400 2000 

Lieutenants 2,400 2,000 l',600 

Lieutenants (Junior Grade) 1,800 1,500 1200 

Ensigns 1,200 1,000 'SOO 

Chaplains 2,500 2,000 1,600 

The pay of the lieutenant-commanders, lieutenants and 
ensigns increases $200 per annum four years from date of 
commission, while that of the chaplains increases $300 
per annum five years from date of commission. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

GUNNERY OF THE AMERICAN AND THE SPANISH SAILORS — 

THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE WAR THE WONDERFUL 

CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION THE WORK 

DONE IN THIRTY DAYS — DISAPPOINTMENT REGARDING 
THE INSURGENTS. 

The result of the war with Spain v/as assured from the 
beginning. That country is vastly our inferior in every 
respect. Ahhough she has maintained an army ten times 
as large as ours in the field, our population greatly ex- 
ceeds hers, and an American soldier is far superior to a 
Spanish one. Spain is bankrupt, while the United States 
possesses limitless resources ; Spain is honeycombed with 
corruption from the throne to the lowest servant of the 
government ; she is without a friend among the nations, 
while England, with her mighty and invincible fleet and 
boundless wealth, has been our friend from the first. 
Those nations who did not choose to express their friend- 
ship for us openly dared not of¥er Spain any help, for 
when the proposition was whispered England thundered, 
"Hands off!" 

Since the war was begun on our part for the liberation 
of Cuba, it was appropriate that the first fight of the war 
should take place in the waters of the "Queen of the An- 
tilles." The skill of the American gunners approaches 
the marvelous. It was their amazing expertness that 
humbled England in the war of 1812. This superiority is 
due, not only to the exceptional ingenuity and aptitude of 
our people, but to their rigid and continuous training. It 
costs a good many thousand dollars for a battleship to 



i64 CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 

drill her crews efficiently in gunnery, but the money is 
well expended, as has often been proven in battle. As 
has been well said, an American always hits what he aims 
at, while Spain, though provided with a large number of 
excellent battleships, with trained and brave officers, dis- 
plays such a lack of skill as at times tO' resemble a bur- 
lesque. It was "Fighting Bob Evans" who, after watch- 
ing their attempts at shooting, exclaimed in disgust : 

"All they can hit is the water, and they'd miss that if 
there was any way of doing it !" 

A demonstration of what the Americans can effect with 
their guns was given on Wednesday, April 2y, when Ad- 
miral Sampson's flagship, the New York, the monitor 
Puritan and the cruiser Cincinnati, gave some unpleasant 
attention to Matanzas, the large Cuban city fifty miles to 
the east of Havana. A couple of months previous its 
only defenses consisted of two old-fashioned forts near 
the entrance to the harbor, containing old guns that could 
bear no comparison with modern ordnance. 

It did not require any extraordinary intelligence for the 
Spanish authorities to perceive the probability of war be- 
fore it broke out, and they could not fail to note how in- 
viting a target the place must prove to our fleets. Des- 
perate efforts, therefore, were put forth to place the city 
in the strongest possible condition of defense. Hundreds 
of men worked like beavers for weeks, until it began to 
look as if the place in a short time would become as for- 
midable as Havana itself. Not only were massive earth- 
works built, but the harbor was carefully mined. The in- 
structions to the blockading fleet was not to fire upon any 
of the Spanish defenses unless first assailed. The well- 
founded rumors of a powerful Spanish fleet coming across 
the Atlantic made it necessary to keep all our battle- 
ships in good order to give them a fitting reception 



CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 165 

On the other hand, it was self-evident that this "neu- 
traHty" was highly beneficial to the enemy, since it gave 
them time in which to complete their elaborate prepara- 
tions for defense. Our own authorities, therefore, left 
much to the discretion of the naval commanders, and Ad^ 
miral Sampson decided to learn the strength of the Ma- 
tanzas defenses. 

At first, the flagship started out to do her work alone. 
The Puritan and Cincinnati were in front of Matanzas, 
doing blockade duty, when the New York signaled what 
her intentions were, and, in response to orders, the other 
two fell in behind, ofBcers and crew eagerly seizing the 
chance for doing a part of the business that had brought 
them to that part of the world. 

Rubalcava is the most projecting point of Matanzas, 
and it was there the Spaniards had been building fortifica- 
tions. It lies west of the harbor and about three miles 
out from the entrance. Next to this is Point Maya, some 
four miles from Point Piibalcava, on the east side of the 
harbor and directly at the entrance, four miles from Ma- 
tanzas, v/hich is at the head of the bay. 

With the purpose of drawing the fire of the forts, the 
New York steamed up within range of the first of the for- 
tifications. A fev/ minutes later a big puff of sm.oke 
showed on Point Rubalcava, followed by the thundrous 
boom of a heavy gun and the screech of a shell, which 
plunged into the water a long way from the cruiser. Al- 
most at the same moment, another puff issued from the 
east, near Point Maya, followed by the sullen roar, the 
scream of the shell, and its splash into the water, so far 
from the three v/arships that it was impossible to tell at 
which it was aim.ed. 

However, the two shots were what the three craft were 
waiting for, and they now proceeded to business. The 



i66 CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 

huge 8-inch gun on the starboard side forward on the 
New York sent a shell toward Rubalcava. The huge 
missile curved over in the air and dropped squarely within 
the fortification, where, as it exploded, it sent the debris 
flying in all directions. The Puritan steamed up behind 
the New York and somewhat to the east, and the Cin- 
cinnati, which had remained some way out, headed di- 
rectly toward the mouth of the harbor. Then the New 
York showed wonderful marksmanship, by planting three 
shells in succession within a few feet of the spot where the 
first had fallen. 

Meanwhile the Puritan and Cincinnati gave their at- 
tention to Point Maya, each exhibiting the skill shown by 
the flagship. Not one of the shots fired missed, as was 
proven by the clouds of dust and pieces of masonry that 
were sent flying into the air. The three warships kept 
edging nearer, the Cincinnati and Puritan bestowing all 
their attention on Point Maya, while the New York at- 
tended to Point Rubalcava. When the first shot was 
fired, the ships were about 6,000 yards away, the distance 
gradually decreasing until one-half. 

The New York used her guns, both starboard and port, 
and both forward and aft, the rapidity of her firing in- 
creasing to three shots a minute, with every one doing 
execution. The Puritan fired somewhat more slowly, the 
interval being about a minute between each shot. She 
had a greater distance to overcome, but not once did she 
miss. 

The Cincinnati fired broadsides, all fearfully effective. 
The bombardment lasted about fifteen minutes when the 
admiral signaled to cease firing and back away. Then 
came the most striking exhibition of gimnery yet seen. 
The Puritan saw the puff made by the last shot fired from 
Rubalcava and aimed one of her 12-inch guns at the point, 



CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 167 

with the result that she made a bull's eye. As the enor- 
mous missile described its immense parabola, the 1,000- 
pound shell struck the exact spot, smashed, the cannon 
which was the target, and, plunging into the earthworks, 
exploded with terrific effect. As one of the spectators re- 
marked, it looked as if all the visible portion of Cuba was 
blown skyward. , 

There may have been excellent fortifications there, but 
they existed no longer. The brief bombardment of the 
three v/arships had destroyed them. It was impossible 
to tell how many return shots were fired, but not one of 
them did any damage to the Americans. A couple, prob- 
ably by accident, dropped in the vicinity of the New York, 
but none came near the Puritan or Cincinnati. After all, 
it is hardly warrantable to describe the affair as the first 
fight of the war. 

President McKinley, as we have shown, had followed a 
wise course from the first. He was unwilling to plunge 
his country into hostilities until honor and patriotism left 
no other course open to him. Then he bent all his ener- 
gies to making the war short, sharp and decisive. It was 
a tremendous task to change the nation from a people of 
peace to one of war, to raise the army six-fold, and vir- 
tually create a new navy. There was impatience ex- 
pressed in some quarters over the slowness of operations, 
but those who understood the vast work to be performed 
had only words of praise for his success in the herculean 
task. 

That such praise is deserved is proven by the fact that 
just thirty days after the war opened, Admiral Sampson's 
fleet had destroyed the defenses of San Juan del Puerto 
Rico, which, excepting Havana, was the most strongly 
fortified city in the West Indies, beside which it bom- 
barded Cardenas, Matanzas, Mariel, Cienfugos and other 



168 CAPACITIES OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 

fortifications, and took thirty-nine prizes at sea, whose ag- 
gregate value was more than five milHon dollars. More 
glorious than all, Admiral Dewey won his victory at 
Manila, in some respects the most remarkable naval bat- 
tle in the history of the American navy. 

A striking fact is the demonstration that the United 
States is a warlike as well as a peaceful nation. Although 
a third of a century of quiet had brought us to a state of 
almost total unpreparedness, yet in the brief period 
named, the navy was double in strength and tonnage, 
without any perceptible efifect upon the commercial or in- 
dustrial condition of the country. Pressing matters with 
wise energy, the President caused the purchase, arming 
and equipping of forty-seven vessels, and added several 
thousand to the personnel of the navy, while the purchase 
and manufacture of arms, ammunition and projectiles as- 
sumed proportions almost beyond comprehension. 

What nation engaged like ours in the pursuits of peace 
could in the space of thirty days, place 113,000 soldiers in 
the fixcld, all having passed a severe surgical examination, 
and with each company armed and equipped, gathered at 
widely separated camps, and organized into brigades, di- 
visions and corps, well supplied v/ith rations and ready 
for the invasion of Cuba ? 

When the first passionate cry "Remember the Maine !'* 
rang through the country, the ammunition for our coast 
defenses and men-of-war was barely enough to furnish 
three rounds apiece. Had it been England with whom 
we quarreled, she could have begun at Portland, Maine, 
and desolated the Atlantic and Gulf coast to the Rio 
Grande, but within the thirty days the armament of our 
ships and forts was doubled, every harbor on the Atlantic 
was mined and protected by torpedoes, and abundant am- 
munition was provided to meet every deficiency. 



CAPACirms OF THE AMERICAN NATION. 169 

That a few mistakes were made was inevitable. One 
disappointment was regarding the strength of the Cuban 
insurgents. Of their bravery and patriotism there can be 
no doubt, for they have given too many proofs of it. The 
assertion was often made that if the United States would 
furnish these men with arms and ammunition, they would 
unaided expel their oppressors ; but investigation brought 
to light the fact that the insurgents had no armies in the 
field, such as had been asserted by the friends of Cuba in 
Congress. General Gomez was at the head of only a few 
bands of guerillas, who lacked organization, discipline, 
arms, ammunition and equipments, while General Garcia 
was no better off. 

The principal weapon of the insurgents is the machete, 
a long, sword-like knife originally intended for cuttmg 
cane and bushes, and in only one of the seven provinces 
was there a semblance of an organized government. 
President McKinley and his counsellors were compelled 
to admit that little was to be hoped from the insurgents as 
allies. Moreover, though the Cubans in this country con- 
tributed freely of their means to aid their brothers in the 
field, they showed no love for volunteering. Indeed, 
their indifference was disappointing, to use the mildest 
expression. 

But our country needs the help of no nation or people 
to prosecute a war, no matter for what purpose. We had 
set out with the resolve to drive the most cruel and treach- 
erous of tyrants from the soil of Cuba, and, after all, it was 
of no importance whether the insurgents fired a single 
shot as our allies. The work was certain to be done with 
a completeness that would never require a repetition. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE president's MILITARY NOMINATIONS — SKETCHES OF 

THE LEADERS THE PHILIPPINES ADMIRAL DEWEY'S 

GREAT VICTORY AT MANILA — HIS PROMOTION. 

The statement regarding the conduct of President Mc- 
Kinley, made during the negotiations with Spain, re- 
mained true of him to the end. When war became in- 
evitable, he acted with a vigor that was resistless. On the 
4th of May he sent the following nominations to the Sen- 
ate, all of which were confirmed without opposition : 

To be Major-Generals — Brigadier-Generals Joseph C. 
Breckinridge, Elwell S. Otis, John J. Coppinger, William 
R. Shafter, William M. Graham, James F. Wade and 
Henry C. Merriam, and civilians James H. Wilson of 
Delaware, Fitzhugh Lee of Virginia, William J. Sewell 
of New Jersey, and Joseph H. Wheeler of Alabama. 

To be Brigadier-Generals — Cols. Thomas M. Anderson, 
Fourteenth Infantry; Charles E. Compton, Fourth Cav- 
alry; Abraham K. Arnold, First Cavalry ; John S. Poland, 
Seventeenth Infantry; John C. Bates, Second Infantry; 
Andrew S. Burt, Twenty-fifth Infantry; Simon Snyder, 
Nineteenth Infantry; Hamilton S. Hawkins, Twentieth 
Infantry ; Royal T. Frank, First Artil.ery ; Jacob F. Kent, 
Twenty-fourth Infantry; Samuel S. Sumner, Sixth Cav- 
alry; Francis L. Guenther, Fourth Artillery; Alexander 
C. H. Pennington, Second Artillery Guy V. Henry, Tenth 
Cavalry ; John I. Rodgers, First Artillery ; Louis H. Car- 
penter, Fifth Cavalry ; Samuel B. M. Young, Third Cav- 



THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINATIONS. 171 

airy ; John M. Bacon, Eighth Cavalry ; Edward B. Willis- 
ton, Sixth Artillery. Lieutenant-Colonels — Henry W. 
Lawton, Inspector-General ; George M. Randall, Eighth 
Infantry; Theodore Schwan, Assistant Adjutant-General; 
William Ludlow, Corps of Engineers; Adna R. Chaifee, 
Third Cavalry; George W. Davis, Fourteenth Infantry; 
Alfred E. Bates, Deputy Paymaster-General. 

In addition, there were a large number of nominations 
for the Substinence Department, Pay Department, En- 
signs in the navy. Assistant Engineers in the Navy, and 
Assistant Paymasters in the navy. 

The nominations, like all made by President McKinley, 
were excellent. General Fitzhugh Lee was graduated 
from West Point in 1856, at the head of his class. He 
was one of the most brilliant officers of the Confederacy, 
in which he rose to the rank of major-general. He was 
afterward Congressman, Governor of Virginia and Con- 
sul-General at Havana, where his patriotism, gallantry 
and tact won the admiration of the whole country. 

Joseph Wheeler was graduated from West Point in 
1859. -^s a dashing Confederate cavalry leader, he ranked 
next to Stuart. When appointed to a command in the 
Spanish-American war, he was serving his seventh term 
as Congressman from the Eighth Alabama district. 

James H. Wilson, of Delaware, was graduated from 
West Point July i, i860, and quickly proved himself one 
of the best cavalrymen produced by the Civil War. He 
was brevetted six times for gallant and meritorious ser- 
vice, and became a Major-General of Volunteers toward 
the close of hostilities. In a campaign of less than a 
month in Georgia, he captured five fortified cities, twenty- 
three stands of colors, 288 guns and 6,820 prisoners. It 
was a part of his force which captured Jefferson Davis, 
May 10, 1865. 



X72 THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINATIONS. 

William J. Sewell is an Irishman by birth, and did gal- 
lant service in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Major- 
General of Volunteers. He was serving his third term 
as United States Senator, which he declined to resign in 
deference to the wishes of the President and his friends. 

Joseph G. Breckinridge was appointed to the army frorn 
Kentucky in April, 1862, and rose to the rank of Captain 
of the Second Artillery in 1874. Transferred to the In- 
spector-General's Department as Major in 1889, he be- 
came Brigadier-General and Inspector-General in the 
same year. 

Elwell S. Otis, of New York, was appointed to the 
army from the New York Volunteers, and became a 
Brigadier-General in 1893. 

John Coppinger is an Irishman and son-in-law of the 
late James G. Blaine, He became a Brigadier-General 
in 1885. 

William R. Shafter, William M. Graham, James F. 
Wade and Henry C. Merriam are all on the active list of 
the army, but none is a graduate of West Point. All 
reached the rank of Brigadier-General in 1898. 

Since we have given an account of the opening fight of 
the war, in Cuban waters, it is proper to refer to what was 
done on the other side of the globe. 

The richest islands in the world are the Philippine*, be- 
longing to Spain. They lie southeast of Asia, and are 
the most northern group of the East Indian archipelago, 
extending almost north and south through fifteen degrees 
of latitude. The islands are of all sizes and forms, Luzon 
on the north being as large as the State of Ohio, and 
having a population of four millions. It is worth remem- 
bering that these islands were named in honor of Philip 
II., the tyrant over Holland and the husband of England's 
bloody Queen Mary. 



1?HE PRESIDENT'S NOMINATIONS. 1^3 

The population of these islands, half of which are un- 
inhabited, is estimated from 7,000,000 to twice that num- 
ber. They are mainly Malay tribes, with a few of the 
aboriginal negritos, or dwarf negroes. There are many 
of mongrel blood, and, during late years, numerous Chi- 
nese have settled in the country. Not including the army, 
the pure Spaniards number barely 10,000. 

Spain displayed her genius for misgovernment as strik- 
ingly in the Philippines as in Cuba, with the inevitable 
result of repeated insurrections. The leader in 1897-98 
was Aguinaldo, a well-educated man of Spanish descent, 
who drew to his support most of the native tribes which 
were sullen and revengeful over the intolerable Spanish 
abuses. 

Spain found the work of subjugation so difficult that, in 
November, 1897, she bought off the insurgent chiefs with 
$400,000 and profuse promises for reform. As in the case 
of Cuba, these pledges were violated, and the enraged 
leaders were ripe for another revolt when the attention of 
the United States was turned thither. 

All the navies of the world could manoeuvre In the 
beautiful bay of Manila on the west coast of Luzon. For 
hundreds of years the city has been the Spanish capital. 
Its population is a quarter of a million, and its commer- 
cial importance is great, being for Spain the centre of 
trade for the entire Pacific. In brief, Manila is the Philip- 
pines. 

The shipping of nearly all nations is represented in 
Manila Bay, whose entrance is twelve miles wide, though 
ships practically use only two channels, one of which is 
five miles and the other two miles across. Twenty-six 
miles northeast of the entrance lies the city of Manila. 

The fortifications were poor, and in April, 1898, the 
Spaniards sunk a number of mines in the harbor and an- 



174 THE PRESIDKNT'S NOMINATIONS. 

nounced that they were stringing torpedoes across the 
two channels. 

In December, 1897, Commodore George Dewey was re- 
Heved as President of the Board of Inspection and Sur- 
vey and assigned to the command of the Asiatic squadron. 
He had served gallantly under the grand old hero Farra- 
gut in the Civil War, and was known to have no superior 
in the navy. 

The Asiatic squadron rendezvoused at Hong Kong, and 
in April was joined by the Baltimore. Hong Kong be- 
longing to Great Britain, the American fleet, in accordance 
with the English proclamation of neutrality, was obliged 
to leave the port on the 27th of April, moving some thirty 
miles northward to Mirs Bay. There they were in Chi- 
nese jurisdiction, and completed their preparations for the 
attack upon Manila. 

The American fleet under Dewey consisted of six fight- 
ing vessels and three tenders, as follows: Olympia (flag- 
ship), first-class protected cruiser, Captain Charles V. 
Gridley ; Baltimore, protected cruiser, Captain N. M. 
Dyer; Raleigh, protected cruiser. Captain J. B. Coghlan ; 
Boston, protected cruiser. Captain F. Wildes; Concord, 
gunboat. Commander A. S. Walker; Petrel, gunboat, 
Commander E. P. Wood. The fleet carried ten 8-inch 
guns, twenty-three 6-inch, twenty 5-inch and fifty-six 
guns of smaller calibre. 

The Spanish fleet under Admiral Montijo was com- 
posed as follows, the first named being the flagship : Reina 
Marie Christina, steel cruiser; Castilla, steel cruiser; Ve- 
lasco, steel cruiser; Don Antonio De Ulloa, small cruiser; 
Don Juan De Austria, small cruiser ; Isla De Cuba, small 
cruiser ; Isla De Luzon, small cruiser ; General Lezo, gun- 
vessel; El Cano, gun-vessel; Marques Del Duero, dis- 
patch boat. 



THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINATIONS. 175 

The Spanish fleet was inferior to the American in num- 
ber and caliber of guns, but it would seem that this ad- 
vantage was more than counterbalanced by the shore 
batteries, the torpedoes at the harbor entrance and the 
mines inside the harbor. 

Dewey left Mirs Bay on the afternoon of April 2^, and 
at daylight on the 30th was off Cape Bolinao, about one 
hundred miles from Manila. An hour or so after mid- 
night, Sunday morning, May i, the Americans began 
forcing their way through the narrow north channel, 
where the Spaniards were confident that any fleet could 
be sunk by the batteres lining both shores. These were 
quickly ablaze with the fire of the frightened garrisons, 
but the fleet pushed steadily on, equally heedless of mines 
and torpedoes, the flagship in the lead, until all were 
safely within the harbor. 

The battle of Manila began at six o'clock next morn- 
ing. This is not the place to give a description of it, the 
particulars of which are doubtless familiar to the reader. 
Let it suffice to say that naval annals contain no record 
of such a victory. The Spanish fleet was annihilated with 
enormous loss of life, while not an American was killed! 
The wounded were eight in number, none being seriously 
hurt. Could any one doubt the overwhelming superiority 
of American marksmanship and skill after such an im- 
pressive demonstration as this? 

The country was thrilled by the news, and Dewey and 
his ofificers and men were the heroes of the hour. Per- 
haps it was fortunate for them that they were compelled 
to remain on the other side ot the world until the patri- 
otic ardor of their countrymen had time to cool. 

No people are so quick to recognize the reward of 
merit as our own. Hardly had the news of the great 



17^ THE PRESIDKNt'S NOMINATIONS. 

victory arrived when President McKinley (May 9) sent 
the following message to Congress: 

"To the Congress of the United States : 

"On the 24th of April I directed the Secretary of the 
Navy to telegraph orders to Commodore George Dewey, 
of the United States Navy, commanding the Asiatic 
squadron, then lying in the port of Hong Kong, to pro- 
ceed forthwith to the Philippine Islands, there to com- 
mence operations and engage the assembled Spanish 
fleet. Promptly obeying that order, the United States 
squadron, consisting of the flagship Olympia, Baltimore, 
Raleigh, Boston, Concord and Petrel, with the revenue 
cutter McCuUoch as an auxiliary dispatch boat, entered 
the harbor of Manila at daybreak on the ist of May and 
immediately engaged the entire Spanish fleet of eleven 
ships, which were under the protection of the fire of the 
land force. After a stubborn fight, in which the enemy 
suflfered great loss, their vessels were destroyed or com- 
pletely disabled and the water battery at Cavite silenced. 
Of our brave officers and men not one was lost, and only 
eight injured, and those slightly. All of our ships es- 
caped any serious danger. 

"By the 4th of May Commodore Dewey had taken pos- 
session of the naval station at Cavite, destroying the for- 
tifications there and at the entrance of the bay, paroling 
their garrisons. The waters of the bay are under his 
complete control. He has established hospitals within 
the American lines, where 250 of the Spanish sick and 
wounded are assisted and protected. The magnitude of 
this victory can hardly be measured by the ordinary 
standards of naval warfare. Outweighing any material 
advantage is the moral effect of the initial success. At 
this unsurpassed achievement the great heart of our na- 



THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINATIONS. 177 

tion throbs, not with boasting or with greed of conquest, 
but with deep gratitude that this triumph has come in 
a just cause, and that by the grace of God an effective 
step has thus been taken toward the attainment of the 
wished-for peace. 

"To those whose skill, courage and devotion have 
won the fight, to the gallant commander and the brave 
officers and men who aided him, our country owes an 
incalculable debt. Feeling as our people feel, and speak- 
ing in their name, I sent a message to Commodore 
Dewey, thanking him and his officers and men for their 
splendid achievement and overwhelming victory, and in- 
forming him that I had appointed him an Acting Rear 
Admiral. 

"I now recommend that, following our national prece- 
dents and expressing the fervent gratitude of every pa- 
triotic heart, the thanks of Congress be given Acting 
Rear Admiral George Dewey of the United States Navy 
for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the en- 
emy, and to the officers and men under his command for 
their gallantry in the destruction of the enemy's fleet and 
the capture of the enemy's fortifications in the bay of 
Manila. 

"WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 

"Executive Mansion, May 9, 1898." 

A joint resolution was unanimously passed tendering 
the thanks of Congress to Dewey, his officers and men 
of the squadron under his command, and the proper 
steps were taken by which the Commodore was speedily 
raised to the rank of Rear Admiral. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

the exploit of lieutenant hobson — a fitting recog- 
nition of him and other heroes by president 
m'kinley. 

The records of the American navy contain no more 
daring deed than that of Wilham B. Gushing, who during 
the civil war blew up the Confederate ram Albemarle. 
There has been nothing to equal the coolness and hero- 
ism of the young officer, but the nearest approach to it 
was the feat of Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, 
Assistant Naval Constructor, and seven men, in the early 
morning of June 3. The comrades of Lieutenant Hob- 
son were Osborn Deignan, a coxswain of the Merrimac; 
George F. Phillips, a machinist of the Merrimac; John 
Kelly, a water tender of the Merrimac ; George CharettQ 
a gunner's mate of the flagship New York; Daniel Mon- 
tague, a seaman of the cruiser Brooklyn; J. C. Murphy, 
a coxswain of the Iowa, and Randolph Clausen, a cox- 
swain of the New York. 

The Spanish fleet, which gave our authorities great 
concern, both before and after it sailed from Spain, finally 
ran into Santiago harbor, on the southern side of Cuba, 
where it was located by our own fleet. Since there was 
danger of its slipping out and escaping in the darkness 
or during a storm, a daring scheme was formed for 
bottling it up in the harbor, by sinking the Merrimac, a 
collier 338 feet in length, across the narrow entrance to 
the Bay of Santiago. 

To do this the feat had to be accomplished under the 



THE EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 179 

guns of the Spanish batteries that Hne the shores, and 
over the mines under the waters, which threatened in- 
stant death to all who took part in the desperate enter- 
prise. Admiral Sampson had hardly arrived off Santiago 
and assumed command when Lieutenant Hobson asked 
for an interview with him. Hobson is a native of Ala- 
bama. He was born in 1870, and was graduated from the 
Naval Academy in 1889, subsequently studying naval con- 
struction abroad. 

Young Hobson laid before the Admiral his plan for 
imprisoning the enemy's fleet in Santiago harbor, and, 
like a real hero, he claimed the privilege of leading in the 
attempt. He proposed to take with him a volunteer crew 
of just the number sufficient to navigate the Merrimac, to 
strip the old ship of everything of value, and then, 
screened by the darkness, to run her to the narrowest 
part of the channel and sink her by explosions deep in 
her hold. When she was sinking, the crew were to jump 
overboard and swim for the torpedo-boat Porter and 
the steam launch from the Neiv York, which were to 
lie close inshore for that purpose, while the fleet outside 
was to cover the work of the little launch and the Porter. 

Admiral Sampson listened to the eloquent young officer, 
and was so impressed by his ingenuity and hope that he 
consented to let him try his plan. When volunteers were 
called for, after the dangerous nature of the enterprise 
was fully explained, it seemed as if the whole fleet were 
eager to claim the privilege. Randolph Clausen, a cox- 
swain of the Nezv York, was so determined to be one of 
the party that he refused to leave the Merrimac, where 
he was working, when all save the volunteers were or- 
dered to join the flagship. On the Brooklyn alone 150 of 
the crew volunteered, and 140 on the Texas clamored to 
go with the party. When the crew first chosen were 



i8o THE EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 

obliged to wait a day because of the lateness in stripping 
the Merrimac, it was thought that the continuous strain 
had taken the edge off their effectiveness, and the party 
already named was selected. 

Everything being in readiness, the start was made at 
3 o'clock Friday morning. A full moon bathed the tran- 
quil waters of the Caribbean Sea and the lights of the 
city twinkled in the distance. The single searchlight of 
the M'orro lighthouse burned brilliantly. The Merrimac 
headed straight for the entrance, and had not advanced 
far when the flash of a single gun from Morro Castle was 
seen, but the report did not reach the fleet that was 
breathlessly watching the scene. Some of the warships 
opened upon the shore battery to divert their attention, 
but quickly detecting the approach of the Merrimac, the 
enemy directed a heavy fire upon her and she was struck 
several times. From some unknown cause no attempt 
was made by the Spaniards to explode the mines. 

By the time the right point was reached, it seemed as 
if all the batteries had concentrated their fire upon the 
colHer; but the marksmanship was as poor as on former 
occasions. The few shots that struck the ship did no 
special damage, while nearly all splashed in the water 
around her. 

At the narrowest part of the channel anchor was 
dropped. The ship dragged considerably, because of her 
headway, but when checked swung broadside on to the 
channel. The life raft of the Merrimac had been pre- 
pared before starting and the torpedoes lay ready along 
the deck. The ship was provided with seven tranverse 
bulkheads and the torpedoes were so placed that they 
could be quickly anchored over the side, ten feet below 
the water line, and in such position that upon exploding 
every bulkhead would be shattered. This would make 



THK EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. i8i 

the destruction so complete as to render it impossible 
ever to raise lier. 

Ho'bson and every man was prompt and cool, paying 
no attention to the shot and shell falling around them. 
Scarcely had the anchor gone down when the torpedoes 
were lowered over the side of the ship and every sea cock 
opened. The portholes, the Kingston valve and the in- 
jector valve were also opened. The inward flow of water 
was so great that the ship began going down before the 
second anchor was dropped. Then Hobson and his crew 
launched the life raft and dropped aboard of it, taking 
with them the wires that were to expode the torpedoes. 
All this time the lire from the batteries on shore v/as ter- 
rific, but the raft floated calmly with the current to a dis- 
tance of 150 yards, when the contact was made and the 
explosion followed. There was a tremendous concus- 
sion, a huge mass of water was hurled into the air, and 
by the time it settled only the spars and top of the smoke- 
stacks of the Merrimac were visible sticking out of the 
water above the hull that rested on the bottom. 

There v/as no possible escape for the party, for the 
batteries along shore would have riddled every man be- 
fore he went a quarter of the distance. With the cool- 
ness shown from the first, they rowed to the Cristobal 
Colon, the flagship of the Spanish squadron, and sur- 
rendered themselves prisoners of war. 

They had struck the enemy a severe blow, but Ad- 
miral Cervera was filled with admiration of their bravery. 
He treated them kindly, and some hours later sent a boat 
with a flag of truce to Admiral Sampson offering to ex- 
change the prisoners for some of the Spaniards held at 
Atlanta, Admiral Sampson could not do this without con- 
sulting with Washington, after which the Spanish au- 



i82 THE EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 

thorities interposed obstacles, and the exchange was post- 
poned for a long time. 

The news of Hobson's exploit caused great enthusiasm 
throughout the country, for it recalled the most glorious 
days of the navy, in which Paul Jones, Decatur, Gushing, 
Farragut and others won immortal fame. It must be re- 
membered that, taking into account the long, fiery gaunt- 
let that had to be run to reach the spot for sinking the 
Merrimac, there seemed hardly one chance in a hundred 
of its getting to its destination ; and yet if it stopped short, 
the whole mission would be a failure. Even as it was, it 
became known some time later that the channel was not 
effectually blocked, though that fact does not lessen the 
credit due to Hobson and his men. 

As in the case of Dewey, the feeling was universal that 
the bravery of Hobson should receive fitting recognition 
from the government. No one was more anxious to re- 
ward the heroes than President McKinley, and he showed 
his accurate sense of the fitness of things by hesitating 
in the hope that Hobson would soon be exchanged, when 
his wishes could be consulted. It was easy to make a pro- 
motion that would be unsatisfactory to the officer, who, 
many believed, wished to enter the regular naval service. 

The days passed without bringing the exchange of the 
American prisoners. Objections were continually inter- 
posed by the Spanish authorities until there seemed good 
ground for the belief that Cervera was afraid to set them 
free lest they carried with them valuable knowledge of the 
defenses of Santiago. Unwilling to defer the simple act 
of justice longer, the President sent the following mes- 
sage to Congress, June 2y : 

To the Congress of the United States : 

On the morning of the 3d of June, 1898, Assistant Naval 
Constructor Richmond P. Hobson, United States Navy, 



THE EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 183 

with a volunteer crew of seven, in charge of the partially- 
dismantled collier Merrimac, entered the fortified harbor 
of Santiago, Cuba, for the purpose of sinking the collier 
in the narrowest portion of the channel, and thus inter- 
posing a serious obstacle to^ the egress of the Spanish fleet, 
which had recently entered that harbor. This enterprise, 
demanding coolness, judgment, and bravery amounting to 
heroism, was carried to successful execution in the face 
of a persistent fire from the hostile fleet, as well as from 
the fortifications on shore. Rear Admiral Sampson, Com- 
mander-in-Chief of our naval force in Cuban waters, in 
an official report dated *'Off Santiago de Cuba, June 3, 
1898," and addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, refer- 
ring to Hobson's gallant exploit, says : 

"As stated in a recent telegram, before coming here I 
decided to make the harbor entrance secure against the 
possibility of egress of the Spanish ships by obstructing 
the narrow part of the entrance by sinking a collier at that 
point. Upon calling upon Mr. Hobson for his profes- 
sional opinion as to a sure method of sinking the ship, 
he manifested a most lively interest in the problem. After 
several days' consideration he presented a solution which 
he considered would insure the immediate sinking of the 
ship when she had reached the desired point in the chan- 
nel. The plan contemplated a crew of only seven men 
and Mr. Hobson, who begged that it might be intrusted 
to him. 

''As soon as I reached Santiago and had the collier to 
work upon, the details were commenced and diligently 
prosecuted, hoping to complete them in one day, as the 
moon and tide served best the first night after our arrival. 
Notwithstanding every effort, the hour of 4 o'clock in the 
morning arrived and the preparations were scarcely com- 
pleted. After a careful inspection of the final prepara- 



184 THE EXPIvOlT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 

tions, I was forced to relinquish the plan for that morn- 
ing, as dawn was breaking. Mr. Hobson begged to try 
it at all hazards. 

''This morning proved more propitious, as a prompt 
start could be made. Nothing could have been more gal- 
lantly executed. Careful inspection of the harbor from 
this ship showed that the Merrimac had been sunk in the 
channel. I cannot myself too earnestly express my ap- 
preciation of the conduct of Mr. Hobson and his gallant 
crew. I venture to say that a more brave and daring 
thing has not been done since Gushing blew up the Albe- 
marle." 

The members of the crew who were with Mr. Hobson- 
on this memorable occasion have already been rewarded 
for their services by advancement, which, under the pro- 
visions of law and regulation, the Secretary of the Navy 
was authorized to make, and the nomination to the Senate 
of Naval Cadet Powell, who, in a steam launch, followed 
the Merrimac on her perilous trip for the purpose of 
rescuing her force after the sinking of that vessel, to be 
advanced in rank to the grade of ensign, has been pre- 
pared and will be submitted. 

Cushing, with whose gallant act in blowing up the ram 
Albemarle during the Civil War Admiral Sampson com- 
pares Mr. Hobson's sinking of the Merrimac, received the 
thanks of Congress, upon the recommendation of the 
President, by name, and was in consequence, under the 
provision of section 1,508 of the Revised Statutes, ad- 
vanced one grade, such advancement embracing fifty-six 
numbers. The section cited applies, however, to line offi- 
cers only, and Mr. Hobson, being a member of the staff 
of the navy, could not under its provisions be so advanced. 

In considering the question of suitably rewarding As- 
sistant Naval Constructor Hobson for his gallant conduct 



THE EXPLOIT OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON. 185 

on the occasion referred to, I have deemed it proper to 
address this message to you, with the recommendation 
that he receive the thanks of Congress, and, further, that 
he be transferred to the Hne of the navy and promoted 
to such position therein as the President, by and with the 
advice and co^nsent of the Senate, may determine. 

Mr. Hobson's transfer from the Construction Corps to 
the Hne is fully warranted, he having received the neces- 
sary technical training as a graduate of the Naval Acad- 
emy, where he stood No. i in his class, and such action 
is recommended, partly in deference to what is under- 
stood to be his own desire — although, he being now a 
prisoner in the hands of the enemy, no direct communica- 
tion on the subject has been received from him — and part- 
ly for the reason that the abilities displayed by him at 
Santiago are of such a character as to indicate especial 
fitness for the duties of the line. 

William McKinley. 

The President showed his thoughtfulness by also rec- 
ommending that the thanks of Congress should be ex- 
tended to First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb of the 
revenue service, and that a gold medal of honor should 
be presented to him, and a silver medal to each of his 
crew for conspicuous bravery during the fight in the Bay 
of Cardenas on May 11, when the torpedo boat Winslow 
was disabled, her commander wounded and one of her 
officers and part of her crew killed. Naval Cadet Joseph 
W. Powell was advanced two numbers and made an En- 
sign in the navy for extraordinary heroism while in charge 
of the steam launch which accompanied the collier Merri- 
mac for the purpose of rescuing her gallant leader and 
crew after the sinking of the old craft in Santiago channel. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO PEACE PROTOCOI. — OUR 

FLAG IN THE PHIUPPINES — THE YELLOW PERIL. 

But the war was by no means over, though operations 
were now transferred from sea to shore. The first land 
battle of the war began on July i, with General Law- 
ton's division and General Bates' brigade (both of Gen- 
eral Shafter's- corps) on one side, and the Spanish forces, 
near Santiago de Cuba, on the other. The American 
troops advanced and took El Caney, with an estimated 
loss of nearly a thousand killed and wounded on the 
American side, and double that number on the Spanish 
side. 

Shafter's forces pushed on and invested Santiago, and 
then demanded the surrender of the city before noon on 
July 5, under pain of bombarding the city. To this de- 
mand the Spanish commandant sent a peremptory refusal. 
Admiral Cervera, with his fleet of seven ships that had 
been bottled up in Santiago Harbor since May 19, made 
a bold attempt to escape from the harbor, passing around 
the sunken Merrimac, but it was a hopeless effort. The 
torpedo-boats Furor and Pluton were atttacked by the 
improvised American torpedo-boat Gloucester (formerly 
the yacht Corsair), and were destroyed by the shots from 
the rapid-firing guns. The cruisers Infanta Maria Te- 
resa, Almirante Oquendo and Vizcaya were engaged as 
soon as they emerged from the harbor by the armored 



THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 187 

cruiser Brooklyn, under Commodore Schley, the Oregon, 
the lozva and the Texas, and after a few shots were ex- 
changed the three Spanish cruisers were forced to run 
for the shore, where they were burned and blown up, 
within four miles of the entrance of the harbor. The 
cruiser Cristobal Colon kept on and hoped by her superior 
speed to escape, but the battleship Oregon and the cruiser 
Brooklyn chased and captured her about fifty miles from 
Santiago. Before the Americans boarded her the Span- 
iards opened all of the sea valves and threw the bonnets 
overboard, and this caused the ship to fill and sink. The 
Brooklyn and Iowa were struck half-a-|^lozen times,, but 
no injury was done to any of the other American ships, 
and only one American was killed and three others 
wounded. The Spanish loss was six ships, three hun- 
dred killed^ one hundred and fifty wounded and one 
thousand eight hundred taken prisoners. Admiral Cer- 
vera was slightly wounded, and with other Spanish offi- 
cers was courteously received by Commander Richard 
Wainwright, of the Gloucester, who assigned a cabin for 
their accommodation. The prisoners were later sent to 
the United States to be kept under confinement. The 
cruiser New York, Admiral Sam'pson's flagship, v/as too 
far away at the time to take part in the sea fight. 

On July 6, President McKinley issued a proclamation 
calling upon the American people to give thanks to God 
in the churches on the following Sunday for the victories 
achieved by the Navy (and the Army, and recommending 
prayers be said for the return of peace. 

Peace, indeed, seemed near at hand, and two days 
later official communications passed between Spain and 
the United States. Hobson and his seven associates were 
exchanged and Spain was anxious to discuss terms of 
peace. President McKinley, who had struggled valiantly 



i88 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 

to avert the war, was now as determined that, since it had 
been forced upon the country, Spain should pay the full 
penalty, and to the advances of the enemy he replied that 
"only unconditional surrender would be accepted," 

On July 17 the formal surrender of Santiago was made 
and the Stars and Stripes hoisted over the governor's 
palace in place of the Spanish flag. President McKinley 
issued, the following day, a proclamation unique in the 
annals of our country, a proclamation outlining the plan 
of government for that portion of the Province of San- 
tiago in possession of the American troops. 

Ten days later General Miles landed a force of sol- 
diers at Guanica, Porto Rico, and after a skirmish with 
the Spaniards, the American flag was hoisted on Porto 
Rican soil. 

After a lengthy discussion a protocol, providing for 
general armistice between Spain and the United States, 
was signed, and President McKinley issued the follow- 
ing proclamation: 

"Whereia's, By a protocol concluded and signed August 
12, 1898, by William R. Day, Secretary of State of the 
United States, and His Excellency Jules Gambon, Am- 
bassador Extnaordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Re- 
pubLc of France at Washington, respectively represent- 
ing for this (purpose the government of the United States 
and the government of Spain, the governments of the 
United States and Spain have formally agreed upon the 
terms on which negotiations for the establishment of 
peace beitween the two countries shall be undertaiken ; 
and, 

"Whereas, It is in said protocol agreed that upon its 
conclusion and signature hostilities between the two 
countries shall be suspended, and that notice to that ef- 



THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 1^9 

feot shall be given as 'soon as possible by each govern- 
ment to the commanders of its military and naval forces ; 

''Now, Therefore, I, William McKinley, President of 
the United States, do, in accordance with the stipulations 
of the protocol, declare and proclaim on ithe part of the 
United States a suspension of hostilities, and do hereby 
commiand that orders be immediately given through the 
proper channels to the commanders of the military and 
naval forces of the United States to abstain from all acts 
inconsistent with this proclamation." 

The protocol was as follows : 

1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty 
over and title to Cuba. 

2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the 
West Indies, and an island in the Ladrones, to be se- 
lected by the United States, shall be ceded to the latter. 

3. That the United States will .occupy and hold the city, 
bay and harbor of Manila, 'pending the conclusion of a 
treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposi- 
tion and government of the Philippines. 

4. That Cuba, Porto Rico and other Spanish islands 
in the West Indies shall be immediately evacuated, and 
that commissioners, to be appointed within ten days, 
shall, within thirty days from the 'signing of the protocol, 
meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange 
and execute the details of the evacuation. 

5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint 
not more than five commlsisloners to negotiate and con- 
cliudie a treaty of peace. The commissioners are to meet 
at Paris not later than the first of October. 

6. On the 'signing of the protocol hostilities will be sus- 
pended, and notice to that effect will be given as soon as 
possible by each government to the commandens of its 
military and naval forces. 



190 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 

The Spanish Senate adopted the protocol on September 
lo, and the Queen Regent signed it on the following day. 

The war was now at an end, although Aguinaldo, the 
leader of the Filipino insurgents, showed a tendency to 
become antagonistic. 

President McKinley's proclamation of December 21, 
1898, in which he declared that the treaty of peace gave 
to the United States the future control, dispositioin and 
government of the Philippines, and which assured to the 
Filipinos that the full measure of individual rights and 
liberties would be theirs, was published throughout the 
Philippines on January 5, 1899. Two days afterward 
Aguinaldo issued ;a manifesto d'eclaring that he had never 
agreed to recognize the sovereignty of the Americans, and 
insisting that he returned to the Philippines on an Amer- 
ican warship solely to conquer the Spaniards and win in- 
dependence. He solemnly protested against the intru- 
sion of the American government, and called upon all his 
followers to work togetheir with force to obtain absolute 
independence. 

On February 6 President McKinley directed that an 
ultimatum be sent to the insurgents, commanding them to 
evacuaite Iloilo before the evening of February 11, under 
penalty of bombardment and assault. The day came, the 
bombardment took place, the insurgents fired the native 
part of the city and withd>rew, and the American flag was 
raised over the second port of the Philippine islands. 

Fighting of a desultorv' character continued for m2iny 
months, Aguinaldo being driven into the interior and con- 
tinuing to exercise control over his somewhat doubtful 
followers. It was left for General Funston to capture the 
insurgent chief, long after hostilities had for all practical 
purposes ceased; and that the capture was accomplished 



THE SURRENDER OP SANTIAGO. 191 

by means of a stratagem does not detract from, but rather 
adds to the glory of the incident. 

These were surely stirring times alike for the ruler and 
the man in the street; but through the days of stress 
President McKinley 'Stood the embodiment of strength, 
lending his voice wherever a word would hasten the ces- 
sation of hostilities, and quick to spy the heroism of the 
soldiers and sailors who were saorificimg their lives for 
their country's sake. 

Was it to be wondered at that this man of power was 
again the people's choice for President in 1900? 

But not alone in Spanish matters was President Mc- 
Kinley to be tried. The Boxer movement, which had 
broken out in October, 1899, gave evidence of terminat- 
ing in a gigantic struggle between China and the Euro- 
pean powers. The restraining band of President Mc- 
Kinley averted that terrible possibility. Saner judg- 
ments prevailed when the ministers of the various nations 
discussed the problem. Something, however, had to be 
done, and done quickly, since the reign of terror had al- 
ready begun for the foreign missionaries and native 
Christians, hundreds of the latter being tortured to death. 
The President saw that the moment had come for armed 
intervention, and felt that a sharp encounter without de- 
lay would effectually quell the uprising and restore peace 
in the Far East. 

On June 27, 19CK), the Ninth United Staites Infantry 
started from IManila, and, landing at Taku July 8, pro- 
ceeded to join sixteen thousand foreign troops at Tien- 
Tsin, who were opposed by a Chinese force exceeding 
fifty thousand. On July 13 Tien-Tsin was assaulted, and 
the following morning the Chinese were driven out. 

General Adna R. Chaffee, who had been ordered to 
command the American forces in China, left San Fran- 



192 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGd. 

Cisco July 3, with eight troops of the Sixth Cavalry, ar- 
riving at Taku July 28, where he was joined by Reilly's 
Battery of the Fifth Artillery and two baJttalions of the 
Fourteenth Infantry from Manila. With this force he 
immediately proceeded to Tien-Tsin, when with Reilly's 
Battery and the Nimth and Fourteenth Regiments he 
promptly moved with the allied army to the relief of 
Peking, assisting in the capture of Pei-Tsang, August 
5 ; Yang-Tisun, August 6, and Ho-Si-Wu, August 9. 

Early in the morning of August 14 the Americans, 
Russians and Japanese began an assault on the east wall 
of Peking. The American flag was the first raised on 
top of the wall, the Russians being the first to enter the 
Tartar City. The British, attacking at the south, found 
little resistance, and profiting by the concentration of the 
Chinese against the Japanese and Americans, were the 
first troops to reach 'the legations, the Americans arriving 
two^liiouns late'r, at live o'clock in the evening, after losing 
six killed, including Captain Reilly, and thirty wounded. 

The legations were put under a virtual state of block- 
ade on June 13, when the local authorities ceased any 
show of preserving order in the city. On that day the 
chancellor of the Japanese legation was murdered by the 
mob, and five days later, the legations having been given 
twenty-four hours to leave the capital, Baron von Ket- 
teler, the Germ.an minister, was assassinated by armed 
Chinese officials, while on his way to the Foreign Office 
to insist upon imperial protection. On June 20 the bom- 
bardment of the legations by Chinese troops began and 
lasted until July 16, artillery and rifle fire being incessant 
during that period. The temporary cessation on that day 
was due to the arrival in Peking of a cipher message 
from Secretary Hay, which was delivered to Minister 
Conger under a flag of itruce. Desultory firing was re- 



THE SURRENDER OE SANTIAGO. 193 

©um-ed several days later, after the legations had been 
revictualed by imperial command, but no serioms attempt 
was made to carry the foreign positions. 

By sentence of court-martial, Ting- Yung, acting Vice- 
roy of Chi-Li, and several generals and other officials, 

Vv^ere shot. 

President McKinley was anxious for a speedy cessa- 
tion of hostilities, and peace proposals were soon drafted. 
It was not, however, till late in October, 1900, that a 
defmite agreement was arrived at. The German Imperial 
Chancellor's formal announcement in the Reichstag was 
that the powers had decided upon the following as the 
basis of their demands upon China: 

1. China shall erect a monument to Baron von Ketteler 
on the site where he was murdered and send an Imperial 
Prince to Germany to convey an apology. She shall in- 
flict the death penalty upon eleven princes and officials, 
already named, and suspend provincial examinations for 
five years where the outrages occurred. 

2. In future all officials falling to prevent anti-foreign 
outrao-es within their jurisdiction shall be dismissed and 
punished. 

3. Indemnity shall be paid to states, corporations and 
individuals. The Tsung-li-Yamen shall be abolished and 
its functions vested in a foreign minister. Rational in- 
tercourse shall be permitted with the emperor, las in civil- 
ized countries. 

4. The forts at Taku and the other forts on the coast 
of Chi-Li shall be razed, and the imiportation of arms and 
war material prohibited. 

5. Permanent legation guards shall be m.aintalned, and 
also guards of communication between Peking and the 
sea. 



194 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 

6. Imperial proclamaJtioms sihall be posted for two years 
throughout the empire suppressing Boxers. 

7. Indemnity is to include compensation for Chinese 
who isuffered through being employed by foreigners, but 
not comipenisation for native Christians. 

8. China shall erect expiatory monuments in every for- 
eign or imternational burial ground where the graves have 
been profaned. 

9. The Chinese 'government shall undertake to enter 
upon -negotiations for such changes in existing treaties 
regarding trade and mavigation as the foreign govern- 
ments deem advisable, and with reference to other mat- 
ters having in view the facilitation of commercial rela- 
tions. 

China >grumbled a good deal at the terms, but finally, 
after islight modification, they were accepted, and the 
huge, unwieldy Middle Kingdom relapsed into placidity. 

President McKinley, in his annual message to Con- 
gress, December 3, 1900, made the following statement 
of the principles which animated the government of the 
United States in dealing with the (situation in China : 

"The policy of the government of the United States is 
to seek a solution which may bring about permanent 
safety and peace to China, preserve Chinese territorial and 
administrative entity, protect all rights guaranteed to 
friendly powers by treaty and international law, and safe- 
1 guard for the world the principle of equal and impartial 
trade with all parts of the Chinese empire. 

"Faithful to those profes'sions which, as it proved, re- 
flected the views and purposes of the other co-operating 
governments, all our efforts have been directed toward 
ending the anomalous situation in China by negotiations 
for a settlement at -the earliest possible moment. As soon 



THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 195 

as the sacred duty of relieving our legation and its de- 
fendants was accomplished, we withdrew from active hos- 
tilities, leaving our legation under an adequate guard in 
Peking as a channel of negotiations and settlement — a 
course adopted by others of the interested powers/* 



CHAPTER XXL 

PRESIDKNT m'kINI^Ey's SE:C0ND TElRM — INAUGURAI, A]> 
DRE;sS — A MEMORABI.E TOUR — MRS. M'kINIvEy'S 11,1.- 

NESS. 

It was fitting that in the platform of the Republican 
party, adopted at Philadelphia, June 20, 1900, the follow- 
ing tribute should be paid to President McKinley : 

"We indorse the administration of William McKinley. 
Its acts have been established in wisdom and in patriot- 
ism, and at home and abroad it has distinctly elevated 
and extended the influence of the American nation. 
Walking untried paths and facing unforeseen responsi- 
bilities, President McKinley has been in every situation 
the true American patriot and the upright 'statesman, clear 
in vision, strong in judgment, firm in action, "always in- 
spiring and deserving the confidence of his countrymen." 

Referring to President McKinley's attitude in the 
Spanish war, the Republican platform contained the fol- 
lowing appreciation : 

"In accepting by the treaty of Paris the just respon'sibility 
of our victories in the Spanish war, the President and the 
Senate won the undoubted approval of the American peo- 
ple. No other course was poissible than to destroy 
Soain's sovereio"ntv throup^hout the Western Indies and 
in the Philippine Islands. That course created our re- 
sponsibility before the world, and with the unorganized 
population whom our intervention had freed from Spain 
to provide for, the maintenance of law and order, and for 



PRESIDENT M'KINlwEY'S SECOND TERM. S97 

the establishment of good government, and for the per- 
formance of international obligations/' 

In the election of 1900 William Jennings Bryan repre- 
sented the Democrats, with Adlai E. Stevenson as Vice- 
President. The Republicans nominated William Mc- 
Kinley for a second term, with Theodore Roosevelt as 
Vice-President. Mr. Bryan secured 6,374,397 votes, Mr. 
McKinley's popuLar vote outnumbering his Democratic 
opponent's by 832,280, and William McKinley was again 
declared President. 

For his Cabinet officers the President chose: Secre- 
tary of State, John Hay ; Secretary of the Treasury, Ly- 
man J. Gage ; Secretary of War, Elihu Root ; Attorney- 
General, John W. Griggs, succeeded by Philander C. 
Knox ; Postmaster-General, Charles E. Smith ; Secre- 
tary of the Navy, John D. Long; Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, Ethan A. Hitchcock; Secretary of Agriculture, 
James Wilson. 

In his inaugural address on March 4, 1901, President 
McKinley said : 

'Tntrusted by the people for a second time with the of- 
fice of President, I enter upon its administration appre- 
ciating the great responsibilities which attach to this re- 
newed honor and commission, promising unreserved de- 
votion on my part to their faithful discharge, and rev- 
erently invoking for my guidance the direction and favor 
of Almighty God. 

'T should shrink from the duties this day assumed if I 
did not feel that in their performance I should have the 
co-operation of the wise and patriotic men of all parties. 
It encouriages me for the great task which I now under- 
take to believe that those who voluntarily committed to 
me the trust imposed upon the Chief Executive of the 
Republic will give to me generous support in my duties 



198 PRESIDENT M'KINLEY'S SECOND TERM. 

'to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
United States,' and to 'care that the laws be faithfully 
executed.' 

*'The national purpose is indicated through a national 
election. It is the constitutional method of ascertaining 
the public will. When once it is registered, it is a law 
to us all, and faithful observance should follow its de- 
crees. Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, 
fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved 
country. We are reunited. Sectionalism has disapn 
peared. Division on public questions can no longer be 
traced by the war maps of 1861. These old differences 
less and less disturb the judgment. Existing problems 
demand the thought and quicken the conscience of the 
country, and the responsibility for their presence, as well 
as for their righteous settlement, rests upon us all — no 
more upo-n me than upon you." 

This was ever President McKinley's way, to endeavor 
to ascertain the opinio'n of the people, and then to act 
ti'pon it. It was part of his creed that without popular 
approval our istatesmen can do nothing ; with it they can 
do almost anything. 

Respecting Cuban interests President McKinley said: 

"The principles which led to our intervention require 
that the fundamental law upon which the new govern- 
ment rests should be adopted to secure a government 
capable of performing the duties and discharging the 
functions of a separate nation, of observing its. interna- 
tional obligations, of protecting life and property, insur- 
ing order, safety and liberty, and conforming to the 
established and historical policy of the United States in 
its relation to Cuba. 

"The peace which we are pledged to leave to the Cuban 
people must carry with it the guarantees of permanence. 



PRESIDKNT M'KINLEY'S SKCOND TERM. 199 

We became sponsors for the pacification of the island, 
and we remain accountable to the Cubans, no less than to 
our own country and people, for the reconstruction of 
Cuba as a free commonwealth, on abiding foundations of 
right, justice, liberty and las'sured order. Our enfran- 
chisement of the people will not be completed until free 
Cuba shall be a reality, not a name ; a perfect entity, not 
a hasty experiment bearing within itself the elements of 
failure." 

On the twenty-ninth of April President McKinley 
began what was to be his last great tour through the 
country, a tour that was to take him over ten thousand 
miles of our country and give him a chance to grip the 
friendly hands of admiring citizens from Maine to Cali- 
fornia. Of the details of that memorable tour it is not 
necessary here to speak. He was greeted everywhere 
with enthusiasm, and at every station en route crowds of 
people had collected to catch a glimpse of their idol, to 
see his kindly smile and to listen to his grave utterances 
on questions of the hour. The President's tour was, how- 
ever, unexpectedly interrupted. Mrs. McKinley, who 
had been one of the party, took sick and was quietly 
taken to San Francisco two days ahead of time, in the 
hope that she might regain her strength. She did, in- 
deed, rally, and President McKinley was able to keep 
•some of his engagements. It v/as seen, however, that her 
health had suffered considerably, and the most distin- 
guished physicians were called in. The people, not only 
of America, but of all nations, hastened to express their 
sym.pathy with the President, and he laughingly told Mrs. 
McKinley when, some weeks later, she had fully re- 
covered, that he had ''no idea he had had so manj good 
friends on earth till she took sick." Gradually the Presi- 
dent's wife recovered, and the party returned to Wash- 



200 PRESIDENT M'KINI^EY'S SECOND TERM. 

ington. The journey east had not been accomplished 
without fears, and many of the newspapers candidly told 
their readers that the first lady in the land had not long 
to live. Arrived at the capital, almost the first bulletin 
issued by the physicians in charge, after examination, was 
the following: 

'*'Mrs. McKinley is recovering from the fatigue of the 
trip. The illness from which she was suffering in San 
Francisco still continues, though in less intense form. 
She is still feeble and 'cannot be considered out of dan- 
ger. Her progress will, no doubt, be slow, but improve- 
ment is looked for. 

"P. M. RiXEY, M. D. 
"George M. Sternberg, M. D- 
**W. W. Johnston, M. D." 

The doctors were right. In a few days Mrs. McKinley 
had so far improved that she was able to go outdoors. 
The bulletins continued to be couched in still brighter 
terms, and at last the great heart of the President was 
gladdened by the news that his wife was now "quite her- 
self again and a healthier woman than when she left on 
the ten-thousand-mile trip." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT — ANARCHY AND 
ITS TEACHER EMMA GOLDMAN's ARREST. 

Cuba and the Philippines slowly settled down into their 
proper positions ; the Chinese question was settled, or at 
least hidden under an international agreement ; the coun- 
try was prosperous ; the people well contented with them- 
selves and their President, w^hen, from out the azure sky 
fell a bolt that shocked the whole world. How shall one 
tell the story of that awful wrong? 

President McKinley had spent the August of 190 1 at 
his old home in Canton, Ohio, and on September 4 he 
visited Buffalo at the invitation of the directors of the 
Pan-American Exposition, then in progress. The follow- 
ing day he gave his last message to the people. 

He appealed for fraternal relations everywhere, but 
maintained that ''friendly rivalry was the spur to indus- 
trial improvement, the inspiration to useful invention and 
to high endeavor in all departments of human activity." 
Then he proceeded to indicate how near the nations of the 
earth stood to one another by the effacing of distances 
through modern inventions, instancing the time taken in 
making General Jackson, in New Orleans, acquainted 
with the fact that the war with England had ceased, and 
the present conditions where General Miles, in Porto 
Rico, was able, by means of the military telegraph, to 
stop his army on the fighting line with the message that 



202 THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 

the United States and Spain had signed a protocol sus- 
pending hostiUties. F'or a moment President McKinley 
dwelt upon the unexampled prosperity of the country, 
and then urged the people in this time of marvelous busi- 
ness energy to look to the future and so strengthen the . 
weak places in our industrial and commercial systems that 
we might be ready for any storm or strain. 

He little guessed the storm and strain that would fol- 
low in one short day. But no premonition clouded the 
President's brow. His hopes were high as he uttered the 
final words of his speech; words that while heard only 
within the precincts of the Exposition, were caught up 
and echoed in every civilized country under the sun. 

"Let us ever remember," he said, ''that our interest is 
in concord, not conflict, and that our real eminence rests 
in the victories of peace, not those of war. We hope that 
all who are represented here may be moved to higher and 
nobler effort for their own and the world's good, and that 
out of this city may come, not only greater commerce and 
trade for us all, but, m.ore essential than these, relations 
of mutual respect, confidence and friendship which will 
deepen and endure. Our earnest prayer is that God will 
graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to 
all our neighbors and like blessings to all the peoples and 
powers of earth." 

When the cheering was over, and the President and his 
wife had driven to the hom.e of Mr. Milburn, President 
of the Exposition, Mr. McKinley said to his friends: 
*'Now, I want one day's rest. To-morrow I want to take 
Mrs. McKinley to the Falls for a breathing spell." 

"Yes, but the reception!" demurred Secretary Cor- 
telyou. 

"Ah ! I must not be late for that," said President Mc- 
Kinley, and his eyes glistened as he pictured the thou- 



TPIB ASSASSINATION OF THB PRESIDENT. 203 

sands who wanted to shake hands with the Chief Execu- 
tive. "Never fear," he added, "a. glimpse of the cataract 
will do us good, and I can keep my engagement as well." 

So to Niagara President and Mrs. McKinley went. 
The date was September 6. The day Friday — an ominous 
day, the day on which President Lincoln was shot, Friday, 
April 14, 1865 ; the day on which President Garfield vv^as 
shot, Friday, July 2, 1881, and the day on which it was 
destined that President McKinley should be the victim of 
yet another assassin's bullet. 

So in the highest spirits the President and Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley went to Niagara, spent the morning there, and 
traveled back to Buffalo by special train, reaching the 
Exposition about half-past three o'clock. 

Mr. Milburn was the first to welcome back the 
travelers, and after sending Mrs. McKinley to his home, 
he accompanied the President to the Temple of Music, 
where it had been arranged a public reception was to be 
held. 

'Tt was worth coming to Buffalo for this," exclaimed 
President McKinley, as a great shout went up from thirty 
thousand throats when his carriage was driven in front of 
the building. Then the shout merged into the national 
air, led by the great organ in the Temple. Heads were 
bared as the President made his way through the throng 
and so into the building. At one end of the auditorium a 
platform had been raised for the Presidential party. 
Thither Mr. McKinley was conducted and the reception 
commenced. The people were permitted to enter one 
door, pass by the President, and emerge at the opposite 
side of the building. Mr. Milburn, the Exposition Presi- 
dent, took up his position on the left of Mr. McKinley, 
Secretary Cortelyou being on the right. Several secret 
service men were in th^ vicinity. The procession was 



204 THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 

conducted in as orderly a manner as possible; but it was 
almost impossible to keep the crowds in line. Once, dur- 
ing a kind of blockade around the platform, one old man 
was pushed aside and v/as being hurried to the outer 
door, when the President caught sight of him, and, reach- 
ing out over the heads of the others, he called out: 
"Your hand, sir ; your hand," and the next moment the old 
man's hand was in that of the President. So one after 
another the throng passed. Presently a colored man, by 
name Parker, elbowed his way forward. He was a tall, 
powerful fellow, and his grip made the President wince. 
Turning from him was seen in contrast a young man of 
twenty-eight, with prominent nose, arched eyebrows, pro- 
truding ears and an oval face deathly white. His right 
hand was bound in a handkerchief, and President Mc- 
Kinley, eying pityingly the apparently-wounded hand, 
leaned down as if to shake the man's left hand. Then, 
above the patter of feet in the hall, a pistol shot rang out, 
then another. A great gasp went up from the people; 
the pale young man was in the arms of the powerful 
negro, and a smoking weapon protruded through the 
handkerchief bound round his right hand. The first bul- 
let passed through President McKinley's stomach and 
lodged in the back ; the second struck a button on his 
waistcoat and glanced therefrom, m.aking an abrasion on 
the sternum. Parker, the colored man, was the first to 
fling himself upon the assailant. Detective Foster got 
there almost as soon, and fearing that a third bullet might 
be fired, he VvTenched the pistol from the man and struck 
him a blow full in the face. There was a dead quiet for a 
moment as the people saw the President stagger, then 
fall weakly into the arms of his secretary. Next moment 
confusion reigned. A wild rush was made for the young 
man Vv^ho had fired the shots. The entrance door waS in-' 



f HE ASSASSINATION OF tHE PRESIDENT. 205 

stantly closed, and the guards began to drive the people 
out by the exit. But this was difficult, for the crowd was 
now infuriated beyond measure, and threatened to tear 
the assailant limb from limb. A private of the artillery 
corps was within an inch of driving his bayonet sword 
home, had not Detective Ireland interfered. 

President McKinley looked round dazedly after the 
shots were fired, then, as a few drops of blood spurted 
out on his waistcoat, a spasm of agony passed across his 
face. "Am I shot ?" he whispered ; and a detective who 
supported him, replied: "I'm afraid you are, Mr. Presi- 
dent." He was placed carefully in a chair, and his collar 
removed. Secretary Cortelyou, seeing the President's 
lips move tremulously, bent down and heard his chief 
say: "Cortelyou, be careful. Tell Mrs. McKinley 
gently." Valiant soul ! His first thought was for his be- 
loved wife who not long before had been near the portals 
of death. 

The police and detectives, by a clever ruse and quick 
work, removed the assassin. President McKinley, as he 
■saw him carried away, muttered feebly: "God forgive 
him; what have I done to him?" In a fev/ minutes the 
automobile ambulance arrived, and the President was re- 
moved to the Exposition hospital. The assassin fired his 
bullet at 4.12 in the afternoon of that eventful sixth of 
September; at 4.35 the nation's President lay upon the 
operating table. 

In that first terrible hour, when he believed that he was 
about to die, the President turned his thoughts heaven- 
ward and bore himself like a sturdy Christian. 

When he was lifted on the operating table, one of the 
physicians said: 

**Mr. President, we intend to cut into you at once. We 



2o6 THE ASSASSINATION 01^ THE PRESIDENT. 

allowed one President to die, but we don't intend to lose 

you.'* 

"I am in your hands," murmured the President. 

The doctors began to administer ether. 

The President opened his eyes and saw that he was 
about to enter a sleep from which he might never awake. 
He turned his eyes sorrowfully upon the little group. 
Then he closed his lips. His face w^as suddenly lit by a 
tender smile. His soul came into his countenance. The 
wan lips moved. 

'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done." 

The voice was soft and clear. The tears rolled down 
Dr. Mynter's face. The President raised his chest and 
sighed. His lips moved once more. 

"Thy will be done." 

The President's eyelids fluttered faintly, and then they 
were stilled. He had passed into unconsciousness. 

When his clothing was removed, one of the bullets fell 
to the floor. It was found that the second bullet had 
passed through both walls of the stomiach. A search for 
the missile failed to locate it, and it was concluded that it 
had been lost in the thick lumbar muscles. The opening 
was closed, and at 6.50 the anaesthetic was discontinued, 
the operation lasting an hour and ten minutes. President 
McKinley was then removed to the residence of Mr. Mil- 
burn, and placed in charge of the following staflf of physi- 
cians: P. M. Rixey, M. D. Mann, R. E. Park, Herman 
Mynter and Eugene Wasdin. Later on Dr. Charles Mc- 
Burney, of New York, was added to the number. 

Meanwhile, the assassin had given his name as Nieman, 
and as Nieman he had been branded a villain from sea to 
sea by the countless newspapers that recorded the foul 
deed. But the man*s name was not Nieman. It was 
Czolgosz — Leon Czolgosz. He was a Pole, aged twenty- 



THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 207 

eight ; his home had been at Cleveland, Ohio, where his 
parents were found to be honest, hard-working people. 
They were horrified when told of their son's atrocious 
crime, and said they could not understand how, much less 
explain why^ he had done the deed. 

The confession of Czolgosz was : "I am an Anarchist. 
I did my duty." More than this he would not say, 
neither to his captors nor to the two men appointed to 
represent him at his trial. On the way from the Temple 
of Music he once was heard to mutter: 'Tf it hadn't 
been for that lecture of Emma Goldman's that set me on 
fire, I wouldn't be here now. It set me thinking so my 
head nearly split with pain. No matter, I've done some- 
thing heroic for the cause." It is supposed that Emma 
Goldman's doctrine that all rulers should be exterminated 
had taken hold of Leon Czolgosz and swept him forward 
to the fearful crime. 

The police at once set out on the trail of the woman 
Goldman, and a few days later she was arrested in Chi- 
cago. A week after she was released on bail, and a pre- 
liminary trial showed that there was no evidence on which 
to convict. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED OF THE PRESIDENT — 
NEARING THE END. 

The Story of the President's health, as told in bulletins 
by the attending physicians, is as follows : 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6. 

10.40 P. M. — The President is rallying satisfactorily 
and is resting comfortably. 10.15 P- ^-j temperature, 
100.4 degrees; pulse, 124; respiration, 24. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
R. E. Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
Signed by George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the 
President. 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 

I A. M. — The President is free from pain and resting 
well. Temperature, 100.2; pulse, 120; respiration, 24. 

6 A. M. — The President has passed a good night ; terb - 
perature, 102; pulse, no; respiration, 24. 

P. M, RlXEY, 

Roswe:ll Park. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 



BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 209 

9 A. M. — The President passed a fairly comfortable 
liight and no serious symptoms have developed. Pulse, 
146; temperature, 102; respiration, 24. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

12 N'oon. — There is no decided change in the Presi- 
dent's condition since last bulletin. Pulse, 136; tempera- 
ture, 102; respiration, 28. 

P. M. Rixey, M. D. 

George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

3.30 P. M. — The President continues to rest quietly ; 
no change for the worse. Pulse, 140 ; temperature, 102 ; 
respiration, 24. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary -to the President. 

6.30 P. M. — There is no change for the worse since 
last bulletin. Pulse, 130; temperature, 102.5; respiration, 
29. 

P. M. Rixey, M. D. 

George B. Cortelyou, Secretary /to the President. 

9.30 P. M. — ^Conditions continue much the same. The 
President responds well to medication. Pulse, 132; tern- 



iio BUIvLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 

perature, 102.5 ; respiration, 25. All temperatures re-^ 
ported are taken in the rectum. The physicians in at- 
tendance wish to say that they are too busily engaged to 
reply to individual telegrams. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortei^you, Secretary to the President. 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. 

3.20 A. M. — The President has passed a fairly good 
night. Pulse, 122; temperature, 102.4 degrees; respira- 
tion, 24. 

Herman Mynter, 
P. M. Rixey, 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

9 A. M. — The President passed a good night, and his 
condition this morning is quite encouraging. His mind 
is clear, and he is resting well. Wound dressed at 8.30, 
and found in very satisfactory condition. There is no in- 
dication of peritonitis. Pulse, 132; temperature, 102.8; 
respiration, 24. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M, D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortei^you, Secretary to the President. 

12 Noon. — The improvement in the President's con- 



BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 211 

dition has continued since last bulletin. Pulse, 128; tem- 
perature, loi degrees; respiration, 27. 

P. M. RlXEY. 

Dr. McBumey is here, and will meet the President's 
physicians in consultation at 3 o'clock. 

George B. Cortei^you, Secretary to the President. 

4 P. M. — The President, since the last bulletin, has 
slept quietly, four hours altogether since 9 o'clock. His 
condition is satisfactory to all the physicians present. 
Pulse, 128; temperature, loi ; respiration, 28. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurney. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

(This bulletin was issued just forty-eight hours after 
the President was shot, and was regarded as of the most 
favorable character.) 

9 P. M. — The President is resting comfortably, and 
there is no special change since the last bulletin. Pulse, 
130; temperature, 101.6; respiration, 30. 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. 

6 A. M. — The President passed a somewhat restless 
night, sleeping fairly well. General condition unchanged. 
Pulse, 120; temperature, loi ; respiration, 28. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M. D. Mann. 
George: B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 



512 BULLETINS FROM THK DEATHBED. 

9.20 A. M. — The President's condition is becoming 
more and more satisfactory. Untoward incidents are less 
likely to occur. Pulse, 122 ; temperature, 100.8 degrees ; 
respiration, 28. 

P. M. RlXEYj, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Charles McBurney. 
George B. CorteIvYOU, Secretary to the President. 



3 P. M. — The President's condition steadily improves, 
and he is comfortable without pain or unfavorable symp- 
toms. Bowel and kidney functions normally performed. 
Pulse, 113; temperature, loi ; respiration, 26. 

P. M. RixEY, 
M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurney. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 



9.30 P. M. — The President's condition continues fa- 
vorable. Pulse, 112; temperature, loi ; respiration, 2y. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M. D. Mann, 
Roswell Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurney. 

George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 



BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 213 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 

7 A. M.— The President has passed the most comfort- 
able night since the attempt on his life. Pulse, 118 ; tem- 
perature, 100.4 ; respiration, 28. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

RoswELL Park. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

9 A. M.— The President's condition this morning is 
eminently satisfactory to his physicians. If no complica- 
tions arise, a rapid convalescence may be expected. Pulse, 
104; temperature, 99.8; respiration, 26. This tempera- 
ture is taken by mouth and should be read about one de- 
gree higher by rectum. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurnEY. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

3.20 P. M. — There is no change since this morning's 
favorable bulletin. Pulse, no; temperature, 100; res- 
piration, 28. 

P. M. Rixey, 

M. D. Mann, 
Roswell Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurney. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President 
10.30 P. M. — The condition of the President is un- 



914 BULLETINS E.ROM THE DEATHBED. 

changed in all important particulars. His temperature is 
100.6, pulse 114, respiration 28. 

W^.en the operation was done on Friday last it was 
noted that the bullet had carried with it a short distance 
beneath the skin a fragment of the President's coat. This 
foreign material was, of course, removed; but a slight ir- 
ritation of the tissues was produced, the evidence of which 
has appeared only to-night. 

It has been necessary, on account of thrs slight dis- 
turbance, to remove a few stitches and partially open the 
skin wound. This incident cannot give rise to other com- 
plications, but it is communicated to the public, as the 
surgeons in attendance wish to make their bulletins en- 
tirely frank. In consequence of this separation of the 
edges of the surface wound, the healing of the same will 
be somewhat delayed. The President is now well enough 
to begin to take nourishment by the mouth in the form of 
pure beef juioe. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Charles McBurn^y. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11. 

6 A. M. — The President has passed a very comfortable 
night. Pulse, 120; temperature, 100.2; respiration, 26. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

9 A. M. — The President rested comfortably during the 



BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 215 

night. Decided benefit has followed the dressing of the 
wound made last night. His stomach tolerates the beef 
juice well, and it is taken with great satisfaction. His 
condition this morning is excellent. Pulse, 116; tempera- 
ture, 100.2. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurney. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

3.30 P. M. — The President continues to gain, and the 
wound is becoming more healthy. The nourishment 
taken into the stomach is being gradually increased. 
Pulse, 120; temperature, 100.2. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter^ 
Eugene Wasdin,, 
Charles McBurnisy. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

ID P. M. — The President's condition continues favor- 
able. Blood count corroborates clinical evidence of ab- 
sence of any blood poisoning. He is able to take more 
nourishment and relish it. Pulse, 120; temperature, 

100.4. 

P. M. Rixey, 
M. D. Mann, 
Roswell Park, 
Herman Mynter^ 
Eugene Wasdin, 
Charles McBurne;y. 
George B. Cortei^you, Secretary to the President, 



2l6 BULLETINS FROM THE DEATHBED. 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 

9.30 A. M. — The President has spent a quiet and rest- 
ful night and has taken much nourishment. He feels bet- 
ter this morning than at any time. He has taken a little 
solid food this morning and relished it. Pulse, 120; tem- 
perature, 100.2 degrees. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter, 
Eugene Wasdin, 
M. D. Mann, 
Charles McBurndy. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

3 P. M. — The President's condition is very much the 
same as this morning. His only complaint is of fatigue. 
He continues to take a sufficient amount of food. Pulse, 
126; temperature, 100.2 degrees. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park^ 
Herman Mynte^r, 
Eugene Wasdin. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 

8.30 P. M. — The President's condition this evening is 
not quite so good. His food has not agreed with him and 
has been stopped. Excretion has not yet been properly 
established. The kidneys are acting well. His pulse is 
not satisfactory, but has improved in the last two hours. 
The wound is doing well. He is resting quietly. Tem- 
perature, 100.2 ; pulse, 128. 

P. M. RlXEY, 

M. D. Mann, 
RoswELL Park, 
Herman Mynter. 
George B. Cortelyou, Secretary to the President. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE president's LAST WORDS — HOW THE END CAME — THE 
SCENE IN THE DEATH CHAMBER. 

In the early hours of Friday morning the scenes about 
Milburn House were dramatic. Lights burned dimly in 
all the windows. A flag hung out over the doorway, 
nailed at full mast, and destined so to remain even when 
the spirit of William McKinley forsook his mortal body. 
Across the street the soldiers passed up and down. 
Newspaper men darted to and fro in the tents and election 
booths that had been erected for their use. Correspond- 
ents and telegraph operators were making the wires throb 
with the dread tidings, while behind the ropes stretched 
across the approaches a multitude of people waited in 
agonizing silence. 

At 9.30 Friday morning a bulletin contained the wel- 
come news that the President's condition had somewhat 
improved. There was a better response to stimulation. 
At 12.30 the patient was sleeping quietly, his condition 
unchanged. A bulletin published at 2.30 in the afternoon 
stated: "The President has more than held his own 
since morning, and his condition justifies the expectation 
of further improvement. He is better than yesterday at 
this time." An hour and a half later a further bulletin an- 
nounced "only a very slight improvement." At 5 o'clock 
the physicians could not disguise the fact that the Presi- 
dent's end was approaching. He was suffering extreme 



21 8 THB PRESIDENT'S LAST WORDS. 

prostration. Oxygen was given, but there was little re- 
sponse to the stimulation. At 7 o'clock he whispered a 
request that Mrs. McKinley might be brought in. The 
dying husband's face lighted up as he saw his life-com- 
panion bending over him. The others who were in the 
room retired, for they could not bear to witness that 
heart-breaking scene. From the chamber there came the 
sound of convulsive sobbing, and the strong men who 
waited in the corridor sobbed in sympathy. When Mrs. 
McKinley was led away and the doctors returned, their 
patient lay back on the pillows, his eyes fixed on the 
ceiling and a look of peace on his face. His lips were 
moving slightly, and Dr. Mann, coming close to the bed- 
side, heard the President murmur the words : 

" * * * all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to Thee." 

For half an hour the President remained quiet, breath- 
ing softly. The skill of the physicians had reached its 
limit. All that could be done had been done, and there 
was nothing left but to await the coming of the dread 
messenger. Dr. Mann, who was watching his patient nar- 
rowly, saw the eyes look round vacantly and the lips 
tremble. He bent his head and caught the last conscious 
utterance of William McKinley, and at once reduced it 
to writing. It was a dying message : 

"Good-by. All, good-by. It is God's way. His will be 
done." 

Soon afterward he lapsed into unconsciousness, and 
did not rally again. His heart-beats came more and more 
faintly. His extremities chilled. It was only a question 
of a little time. As the ihours passed the President's life 
slowly slipped away. 

About 2 o'clock on Saturday morning Dr. Rixey noted 



TH^ PRESIDENT'S LAST WORDS. 219 

the unmistakable signs of dissolution, and the immediate 
members of the family were summoned to the bedside. 
Airs. McKinley was asleep, and it was deemed desirable 
not to awaken her for the last moments of anguish. 

Silently and sadly the members of the family entered 
the room. They stood about the foot and sides of the 
bed where the great man's life was ebbing away. 

Five miinutes passed, then six, seven, eight 

Now Dr. Rixey bent forward, and then one of his 
hands was raised as if in warning. The fluttering heart 
was just going to rest. A moment more and Dr. Rixey 
straightened up, and, with choking voice, said: 'The 
President is dead." 

The announcement of the news to those waiting below 
was postponed until the members of the famiily had with- 
drawn. Through Secretary Cortelyou the waiting news- 
paper m.en recieved the notification. There was the keen- 
est excitement on the broad avenue, but there was no 
semblance of disorder. 

Those present at the time of the President's death were : 
Secretary George B. Cortelyou, Mrs. and Miss Barber 
and Miss Duncan, William M. Duncan, a nephew ; 
Charles G. Dawes, the Controller of the Currency ; F. M. 
Osborne, a cousin ; Colonel Webb C. Hayes, John Barber, 
a nephew ; Colonel W. C. Brown, the business partner of 
Abner McKinley ; Dr. P. M. Rixey, the family physician, 
and six nurses and attendants. In an adjoining room sat 
the physicians, including Drs. McBurney, Wasdin, Park, 
Stockton and Mynter. 

With the momentary excitement Incident upon the an- 
nouncement at an end, the entire scene became one of un- 
mistakable and deep mourning. As If nature lent Its aid 
to the grieving crowds, a dense fog settled like a pall over 
the city. The Milburn house became a tomb of silence. 



220 THB PRESIDENT'S LAST WORDS. 

Lights — not extinguished — ^were dimmed ; visitors were 
denied admittance, and the mourning family and their 
more intimate friends were speedily left alone with their 
distinguished dead. 

The military guard was augmented immediately upon 
the announcement. The waiting crowds melted away 
rapidly, giving expression with tearful words to the 
great sorrow they felt. Within a brief space of time the 
newspaper men, the police, the sentries of the guard, and 
those whose duties kept them abroad were the only per- 
sons in evidence within the immediate vicinity. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

BORNE TO THE CAPITAL — LYING IN STATE IN WASHING- 
TON — ''lead, kindly light/' 

Vice-President Roosevelt was then at a hunting-camp 
in the Adirondacks. He had been at the bedside of the 
Presid»ent earHer in the week, but the hopes of recovery 
were so high he did not deem it necessary to remain. 
Friday morning at six o'clock he started from the Ta- 
hawas Club — thirty-five miles north of the railroad and 
telegraphic facilities, and ten miles beyond a private tele- 
graph line — on a hunting trip through the forests. On 
receipt of the dispatches stating that President McKin- 
ley's condition was critical, a dozen mounted mountain- 
eers were immediately started in search of him. It was 
not, however, till five o'clock Friday evening that he was 
located. 

He was stunned by the news, but lost no time in gal- 
loping to the nearest station, where a special train con- 
veyed him to Buffalo. He reached the city, to find it in 
mourning, and its flags at half-mast. In the house of his 
friend, Ansley Wilcox, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath 
of President on Saturday, September 15, 1901, after 
which he said : 

*Tn this hour of deep and national bereavement I wish 
to state that it shall be my aim to continue absolutely un- 
broken the policy of President McKinley for the peace, 
prosperity and honor of our beloved country." 



222 BORNE TO THE CAPITAI,. 

Almost the first act of the new President was to issue 
the following proclamation : 

"A terrible bereavement has befallen our people. The 
President of the United States has been struck down by 
a crime committed not only against the Chief Magistrate, 
but against every law-abiding and liberty-loving subject. 
The President crowned a life of the largest love for his 
fellows and earnest endeavor for their welfare by a death 
met with Christian fortitude. Both the way he lived and 
the way he met his death will remain forever a precious 
heritage for the people. It is meet as a nation that we 
express abiding love and reverence for his life, and deep 
sorrow for his untimely death. Therefore, I, Theodore 
Roosevelt, appoint Thursday, the 19th inst., the day upon 
which the body of the dead President will be laid in its 
last earthly resting-place, as a day of mourning and 
prayer throughout the United States. I earnestly recom- 
mend the people to assemble in their respective places of 
worship and bow down in submission to the will of the 
Almighty, and pay out of their full hearts their homage 
of love and reverence to a great and good President. 
Death has smitten the nation with bitter grief. In wit- 
ness thereof, Roosevelt.-" 

A similar proclamation was issued by the Governors of 
every State. 

An autopsy was held on the remains of Mr. McKinley, 
and the following report was issued Saturday evening : 

The bullet which struck wer the breastbone did not 
pass through the skin, and did little harm. The other 
bullet passed through both walls of the ston/ach, near its 
lower border. Both holes were found to be perfectly 



BORNE TO THE CAPITAL. 223 

closed by the stitches, but the tissues around each hole had 
become gangrenous. After passing through the stomach, 
the bullet passed through the back walls of the abdomen, 
hitting and tearing the upper end of the kidney. This 
portion of the bullet track was also gangrenous, the gan- 
grene involving the pancreas. The bullet has not yet been 
found. 

There was no sign of peritonitis or disease of other 
organs. The heart walls were very thin. There Vv^as no 
evidence of any attempt at repair on the part of nature, 
and death resulted from the gangrene, which affected the 
stomach around the bullet wounds, as well as the tissues 
around the further course of the bullet. Death was una- 
voidable by any surgical or medical treatment, and was 
the direct result of the bullet wound. 
(Signed.) 

Harvey D. Gaylord, M. D. 

Herman G. Matzinger, M. D. 

P. M. RixEY, M. D. 

Matthew D. Mann, M. D. 

Herman Mynter, M. D. 

RoswELL Park, M. D. 

Eugene Wasdin, M. D. 

Charles G. Stockton, M. D. 

Edward G. Janeway, M. D. 

W. W. Johnson, M. D. 

W. P. Kendall, Surgeon U. S. A. 

Charles Gary, M. D. 

Edward L. AIunson, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A. 

Hermanus L. Baer, M. D. 

All day Sunday the remains of the dead President lay 
in state in the City Hall at Buffalo, after simple and beau- 
tiful services had been held at the Milburn house. Hon- 



ij24 BORNE TO THK CAPITAL. 

day morning a special train left Buffalo at 7.46, convey- 
ing Mr. McKinley's body to Washington. The funeral 
train consisted ©f seven Pullman cars, with inter-com- 
munication, and was drawn by two locomotives. Behind 
the engines were two drawing-room cars for members of 
the press. Behind these were a dining-car and a car in- 
tended for Senators, and another for Mr. Roosevelt and 
the members of the Cabinet. The next was occupied by 
Mrs. McKinley. Last of all came an observation car at 
the end of the train, in which the body was placed be- 
tween the windows, so that it could be seen by the people 
as the train passed. The railway men on the train were 
all picked men, and a pilot engine ran fifteen minutes in 
advance to clear the line. Only the engines and the ob- 
servation car were shrouded in black, the other carriages 
being undraped. The coffin, completely covered by a 
beautiful silk flag, lay on a raised bier. Two sheaves of 
wheat were crossed above the dead President's breast, 
while a white dove, with wings outstretched, seemed to be 
rising from the head of the coffin. The coffin was partly 
hidden by an exquisite floral design of red and white buds 
in the form of the American flag and the French colors, a 
tribute from the Franco-American Society. At the foot 
of the coffin stood a soldier, while a sailor was at the head. 
The lid v^^as closed. The proceedings v/ere witnessed by 
great masses of people, and in the vicinity of the station 
windows and roofs of houses, the roofs of street cars and 
yards were black with people, all heads being uncovered. 
The train stopped only at Olean, Sunbury, Harrisburg, 
York and Baltimore, to change engines. There were 
masses of people at the stations at those places, while at all 
the other stations and along the line thousands, including 
school children, were gathered. The train literally ran 
between two lines of people. Bells were tolling along the 



BORNB TO THE CAPITAL. 32$ 

entire route. The train slowed down at every station to 
allow the people a better view of the coffin. Each town 
had chosen some distinct way of doing honor to the dead. 
At Lockhaven young girls strewed flowers before the 
train. Before arriving at Olean the widow of the late 
President expressed the wish to sit for a time beside the 
coffin. Dr. Rixey was at first averse to permitting this, 
fearing that it would tax her strength, but she pleaded so 
earnestly that he reluctantly consented'. 

Mrs. McKinley all through bore herself as a brave 
woman whose faith in a just Providence was undisturbed. 
Not even when, after the heart of her husband had ceased 
to beat, and the news was broken to her gently that the 
President was dead, did she give way to her keen anguish. 
There were no tears in her eyes, only a tightening of the 
drawn lips, and a clinching of the hands. 

At the national capital the remains of President Mc- 
Kinley lay for the last time in the White House Monday 
night. Mrs. McKinley occupied her old room — full of 
bitter-sweet reflections. Next day a solemn procession 
passed up Pennsylvania avenue to the Capitol. The es- 
cort consisted of regular soldiers, sailors and marines, 
the National Guard of the District of Columbia, members 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Loyal Legion 
and similar bodies, civic organizations, representatives of 
all branches of the national Government and the Gov- 
ernors of a number of States, with their staffs. The 
streets were thronged with people, who were kept in posi- 
tion by wire cables stretched along the entire route. 
Many eyes were wet with tears as, in profound silence, 
the remains, resting on a plain black hearse, drawn by six 
sable horses in black draperies and trailing tassels, with 
a groom at the head of each, passed in a fine, drizzling 
rain to the Capitol, which was reached at 10.35. 



226 BORNE TO THE CAPITAL. 

The catafalque which bore the body of President Mc- 
Kinley had carried also the remains of President Lincoln 
and President Garfield. The scene in the Capitol when 
the coffin was placed on the catafalque was one of great 
solemnity. Looking down upon the coffin of the mur- 
dered President were statues of Jefferson, Hamilton, Lin- 
coln and Grant. Among the w^reaths placed upon the 
coffin was a beautiful one from the army in the Philip- 
pines. The choir was furnished by the late President's 
own church, the Metropolitan Methodist Church, which 
sang with touching pathos Newman's immortal hymn, 
''Lead, Kindly Light." The Rev. Dr. Naylor, pastor of 
the Metropolitan Methodist Church, delivered a brief and 
impressive invocation. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

"all the world at his funeral'' — BACK TO THE OLD 
HOME LAST SCENE OF ALL. 

Tuesday night the dead President was borne by special 
train to his old home in Canton, Ohio, there to lie in state 
among his neighbors and townsmen. All through that 
long night, as the train sped on in the darkness, evidences 
of grief were at hand in the tolling of bells and the little 
groups of mourning people that stood on the way stations 
to watch all that was left of the President go by. Here 
and there flickering fires burned in the darkness like fu- 
neral pyres. Hundreds of miners, with flaring lamps on 
their hats, clustered in long lines near the rails, as if to 
light the dead man on bis way. As the train neared Can- 
ton on Wednesday morning, mile by mile, the approach 
was marked by growing evidences of deep personal af- 
fliction. Flags that had often waved McKinley welcome 
were now lowered in sorrow. Farmers and country folk 
generally seemed to have suspended work altogether ; the 
schools were dismissed and the entire population was 
ranged along the track in sorrowful silence. The strain- 
ing faces showed that the people took this mournful home- 
coming as a personal bereavement, which had entered 
into each home, and it was as though fathers, and 
mothers, and sisters were v/atching for a glimpse of the 
casket that held their own loved one. 
^ Here groups of school children had collected great 



228 "ALL THE WORLD AT HIS FUNKRAL." 

pyramids of wild flowers, which were heaped upon white 
cloth at the roadside. As the train passed, these myriad 
•blooms, gathered in tender sorrow, were cast in the path 
of the funeral car. 

At another point hundreds of aged veterans of the war 
were ranged in line, bare-headed and with furled flags. 
Thousands of men in their working clothes, grimed with 
toil and mute with an honest sorrow, clustered in front of 
great industrial establishments to watch the passing of 
the martyred President. 

The entire population of the little city and thousands 
from all over Ohio, the full strength of the National 
Guard of the State, eight regiments, three batteries of 
artillery, one battalion of engineers, five thousand men in 
all ; the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and a Justice of 
the Supreme Court, representing the three branches of 
the State Government, were at the station to receive the 
remains at noon. 

The only house without a touch of mourning drapery in 
all this sorrow-stricken city, strange as it may seem, was 
the old familiar McKinley cottage, on North Market 
street, to which so many distinguished men in the country 
made pilgrimage in the days that are gone. The blinds 
were drawn, but there was no outward token of the blow 
that had robbed it of its most precious possession. 

There was not even a bow of crape upon the door when 
the stricken widow was carried by Abner McKinley and 
Dr. Rixey through it into the darkened home from which 
the light for her had flown forever. Only the hitching- 
post at the curb in front of the residence had been swathed 
in black by the citizens. 

From the station the body was escorted to the City Hall 
to lie in state. Throughout the afternoon the human tide 
pressed steadily by the bier four abreast and without a 



"ALL THE WORLD AT HIS FUNERAL." 229 

moment's halt. In the five hours that the body lay in state 
thirty thousand people viewed it. 

At six o'clock, though there were thousands of persons 
in line, the doors were closed to the public and prepara- 
tions made for removing the body immediately to the Mc- 
Kinley residence. Canton Commandery of the G. A. R. 
acted as escort and there was no following. 

Arrived at the house, the escort formed in line in the 
street, presenting arms while the coffin, borne by the body- 
bearers, was taken into the house. 

All night long floral offerings continued to arrive, and 
when at one o'clock Thursday afternoon the funeral pro- 
cession started from the McKinley home, the collection of 
flowers was undoubtedly the most beautiful ever wit- 
nessed at the funeral of a great man. It included tributes 
sent by the direction of European monarchs, South 
American rulers, governors of the British Colonies, Aus- 
tralia and Canada, from the Emperor of Japan — in fact, 
from the four quarters of the globe had come instruc- 
tions for the adornment of the bier. These tokens, how- 
ever, were buried by the huge masses of floral tributes 
sent by our own people. 

The services were very simple at the little stone Metho^ 
dist Church, which had been draped with ribbons of black 
and white silk. 

A beautiful portrait of the dead President, the gilt 
frame hidden by crape, looked down upon the chancel 
rails and toward the altar, covered with orchids, roses and 
lilies. The funeral cortege reached the church at twenty 
minutes to two, preceded by the solemn strains of the im- 
mortal hymn, ''Lead, Kindly Light," exquisitely rendered 
by a military band, which formed the advance guard of 
the procession. The troops deployed, and took up posi- 
tions on both sides of the entrance doors, while President 



230 "AI,Iv THK WORLD AT HIS FUNERAL." 

Roosevelt, the members of the Cabinet and a throng of 
naval and military officers and other dignitaries left their 
carriages and awaited the arrival of the coffin. This was 
lifted from the bier and carried up the aisle to the chan- 
cel by bluejackets, who were followed closely by the mem- 
bers of the family of the deceased, President Roosevelt, 
the Cabinet Ministers and their guard of honor. As soon 
as the coffin passed the threshold of the church the organ 
pealed forth the mournful notes of Beethoven's ^'Funeral 
March/' and while the chief mourners were taking their 
places a quartet of female voices rendered a beautiful 
anthem. The Rev. Dr. Milligan, pastor of the First 
'Presbyterian Church, prayed that God would give them 
strength to bear their calamity with patience, in fullest 
confidence that ultimately the Almighty's wisdom would 
stand revealed. 

Rev. Dr. Hall, of the Lutheran Church, next read the 
Twenty-third P'salm, and the Rev. Dr. Harbuck read the 
first lesson, from Corinthians xv., 41. After the choir 
had sung "Lead, Kindly Light," the Rev. Dr. Manchester 
endeavored to speak, but the words would hardly come, 
for the murdered President was his dearest friend. 
Tears fell from his eyes, and at times he sobbed openly. 

Bishop Joyce delivered a short prayer, and the choir 
sang the favorite hymn of the deceased, ''Nearer, My 
God, to Thee," in which the congregation joined. Many 
broke down completely, tears streaming from hundreds of 
eyes. 

After the benediction the bluejackets bore the coffin to 
the little ivy-clad vault in the cemetery, almost buried 
beneath thousands of wreaths, the tributes of a mourning 
world. President Roosevelt, the members of the Cabinet 
and the relatives stood around the vault while the coffin 
was placed in a casket of polished cedar. The Rev. Dr, 



"ALL THE; WORLD AT HIS FUNERAL.'* 231 

Manchester then said a few words of prayer, and Bishop 
Joyce read from the Scriptures, concluding with the fa- 
mihar invocation "Earth to earth." At the moment that 
the throng of people stood at the door of the tomb in the 
little cemetery, the bounding activities of America paused 
in solemn hush. The rocket flight of express trains was . 
arrested on plain and mountain, the screws of steamships • 
ceased to throb, the tireless murmur of the bustling 
trolley was stilled. It was a simple service, and yet the 
most impressive the world has ever seen. For, besides 
the few thousands that followed President McKinley to 
the grave eighty million Americans stood reverently in 
spirit with them, and all the nations of earth bowed in 
sympathy. The boy who had slept years before in. a tent, 
with the sound of cannon in his ears, now found a rest- 
ing-place in a martyr's tomb. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE DOOM OF THE ASSASSIN — THE NEW PRESIDENT'S CA- 
REER — "following the policy of m'kinley." 

And what of the assassin? There was no unnecessary 
delay in bringing Leon Czolgosz to trial, showing con- 
clusively that the administration of law can be made 
prompt and effective. Unfortunately there are too many 
cases on record where long delays have occurred by de- 
termined efforts to postpone trials in the hope that im- 
portant witnesses may not appear. In the trial at Buffalo 
the selection of a jury was made without undue haste, 
yet in a reasonable time. There were no wranglings over 
legal technicalities. The pleadings of the lawyers were 
clear, brief and to the point. Nor during the trial were 
there any evidences of vindictiveness. It was an appli- 
cation of the law in its majesty and impartiality. The 
accused was impassive throughout. At the beginning he 
pleaded guilty and was indifferent whether he should 
have counsel or not. The Bar Association wisely con- 
cluded, in the interest of justice, that the culprit should 
be defended and named two of their distinguished mem- 
bers for appointment. In accordance with this resolution 
the court appointed Judges Titus and Lewis to defend 
the prisoner. Their task was an ungrateful one. They 
would have preferred to be excused, but at the call of 
duty they did their best to vindicate the fairness of the 
law and do what they could to aid the accused. They 



Thk doom of th^ assassin. 233 

were powerless to render him any effective help. lie 
had from the first confessed his crime, which had been 
committed in the presence of a crowd of witnesses. The 
only possible plea was that of insanity, but no expert was 
found to declare him insane, and so from the first the 
man was doomed. Nevertheless the trial was proceeded 
with in regular fashion, with the result that a verdict of 
murder — murder in the first degree, that is, with pre- 
meditation and intent to kill — was delivered. When asked 
in court if he had anything to say in extenuation of his 
crime he reiterated the statement 'he made from the first 
that he alone was responsible for the act that ended in 
the death of President McKinley. The assassin, unlike 
most of his kind, made no theatrical display of bravado 
and indulged in no wild tirade when he had an oppor- 
tunity to speak. From that moment till his crime met 
its just punishment by electrocution he remained sullen 
and uncommunicative. He maintained that he had done 
his duty ; yet no one could doubt that he was impressed 
with the enormity of his crime. 

* * ***** 

A word or two may not be out of place respecting the 
man who was so unexpectedly called upon to occupy the 
Presidential chair, and for certain details given here I 
am indebted to Mr. Clemens' little volume dealing with 
the life of the new President.* 

Theodore Roosevelt was graduated from Harvard in 
1880, and after extending his travel in Europe he re- 
turned to this country, studied law for a few months, and 
then plunged at once into the maelstrom of municipal 
politics. He was elected in 1881 an Assemblyman from 
the Twenty-first Assembly District. In one year Mr. 

*"Life of Theodore Roosevelt: Our New President." By Will 
M. Clemens. Street & Smith, Publishers. 



«34 THE DOOM OF THE ASSASSIN. 

Roosevelt was known all over the country as a new power 
in the Albany halls of legislation. 

In 1884 Mr. Roosevelt went to Chicago as chairman 
of the New York delegation to the Republican National 
Convention. He opposed the nomination of Blaine, but 
when' Mr. Blaine became the Republican choice, Mr. 
Roosevelt fell into line and worked for the party candi- 
date's success. 

The next two years of the President's life bore unex- 
pected fruit. They made him an author, paved his way 
for appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and 
undoubtedly suggested to him the formation of the fa- 
mous Regiment of Rough Riders. After retirement from 
the Legislature Mr. Roosevelt went each summer to the 
ranch 'he had purchased in the Bad Lands of North Da- 
kota. He became there an expert rider of the vicious 
horse, and gained a reputation as a courageous man, an 
indefatigable hunter of big game, and a sporitsman of 
ability. There he became intimately acquainted with the 
ranchman, rustlers, and cow punchers, who subsequently 
formed the nucleus of the regiment of Rough Riders. 

In 1886 Mr. Roosevelt was again in the turmoil of 
New York City politics. Henry George was a candidate 
for Mayor. Abram S. Hewitt was the nominee of the 
Democrats, Mr. Roosevelt was put in the field by the 
Repubicans. Mr. Hewitt won. 

President Harrison in 1889 appointed Mr. Roosevelt 
United States Gvil Service Commissioner. He was a 
firm believer in the competitive merit system, and put his 
ideas in force at once. President Cleveland retained him 
in office, altlic.ugh Mr. Roosevelt resigned in 1895 to be- 
come president of the New York Board of Police Com- 
missioners. 

The Police Pepartment had just been exposed as cor- 



THE DOOM OF THE ASSASSIN. 235 

rupt to such an extent that many felt that only reorganiza- 
tion would work any radical improvement. The Roosevelt 
police regime is remembered yet in the Police Depart- 
ment as one of the ablest the department ever knew. 
Under Mr. Roosevelt the morale of the force became 
higher than it has ever been since, and the efficiency of the 
rnen advanced in proportion. Mr. Roosevelt began by 
saying what he meant. He told the police to be honest, 
and that if they were not they would suffer for it, and 
that if they were, they would not be persecuted therefor 
by any individual or political party. 

Within a month after taking office Mr. Roosevelt was 
at once the best-hated and the best-liked man in New 
York. He determined that the law requiring Sunday 
closing of saloons must be enforced. He enforced it. 
This act aroused much criticism from press and people, 
but it effectually stopped the police blackmail of saloon- 
keepers. 

President McKinley nominated Mr. Roosevelt on April 
6, 1897, to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy. When 
actual hostilities with Spain began Mr. Roosevelt resigned 
his post in the Navy Department, returned to the Bad 
Lands and organized a regiment of rough riders. 

Mr. Roosevelt was a member of the National Guard 
from 1884 to 1888, being a m^ ember of the Eighth Regi- 
ment, and though for a time he was a captain, he did not 
think his experience was sufficient to qualify him to com- 
mand a regiment, and so when the Rough Riders were 
organized he declined to become colonel. He became the 
second in command. Dr. Leonard Wood of the regular 
army was made colonel. 

The history of Roosevelt and his Rough Riders during 
the Santiago campaign is too well known to be repeated. 
After Guasimas and San' Juan Hill, Colonel Wood was 



236 THE DOOM OF THB ASSASSIN. 

made a brigadier general and Lieutenant-Colonel Roose- 
velt the regiment's colonel. After the campaign was over 
Colonel Roosevelt returned to the United States the idol 
of the country. He found himself already talked of for 
the gubernatorial nomination of this State. Not until 
he was a private citizen again, on September 15, would he 
talk politics. He then entered into the campaign with his 
customary vigor and impetuosity, and was, after nom- 
ination at Saratoga by the Republican convention, on 
September 27, 1898, elected Governor of the State of 
New York over Augustus Van Wyck, the Democratic 
candidate, by 17,786 votes. 

From the Governor's chair to the Vice-Presidency was 
but a step, although an unwilling one, for Mr. Roosevelt. 
He was nominated at Philadelphia June 21, 1900, for the 
second highest office in the gift of the people of the 
United States. Mr. Roosevelt was unwilling to have his 
name presented to the convention, declaring that he did 
not desire the nomination. The popular demand for his 
nomination was so great that he finally was forced to 
yield to the delegates' desire and accept the nomination. 

Since Mr. McKinley's death, Theodore Roosevelt, as 
President of the United States, has conducted himself 
with dignity, and has won the esteem of the American 
people. At the very beginning of his Presidential career 
he captured the hearts of his countrymen by the simple 
statement: "It shall be my aim to continue unbroken the 
policy of President McKinley." He felt that the path 
the martyred President had trod was the right one ; and 
who shall say his judgment was at fault? 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

WII^IvIAM m'kinLEy's predecessors — A UST WITHOUT 
PARAI,I,EI. IN HISTORY. 

We have had' twenty-five presidents since we became 
a nation, and it may safely be said that no country that 
has existed since the world began can show such a num- 
ber of rulers, immediately succeeding one another, who 
approached them in true greatness and worth. Of the 
whole list there has not been one against whose personal 
integrity the slightest charge could be brought, nor one 
who was corrupt, dishonest or in any way unworthy. All 
were men like ourselves, with their faults and frailties, 
but they were honest, truthful, able and patriotic, and 
they placed their country's welfare above every earthly 
consideration. 

At the name of Washington we all bow our heads, feel- 
ing that every word of praise and admiration that we can 
utter fell from millions of lips before we were bom, and 
that to-day, as a century ago, the whole world does hom- 
age to the immortal Father of his Country, whose fame 
is secure through the remotest ages to come. 

John Adams, born in Massachuisetts in 1735, and died 
in 1826, was a member of the first and second Congress, 
and nominated Washington as commander-in-chief of the 
patriot army. He secured the adoption of the Declara- 
tion of Independence and was said to have the clearest 
head and firmest heart of any man in Congress. He was 



2^8 WILIvIAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 

quick tempered and somewhat of an egotist, but as time 
passed he was recognized as a man of exalted worth and 
spotless integrity, and he and Jefferson, who had once 
quarreled, grew to be warm friends to the close of their 
lives, which, by a wonderful coincidence, took place 
nearly at the same hour on the 4th of July, exactly fifty 
years after the signing of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. 

Thomas Jefferson, born in 1743, in Virginia, and died 
as above stated, was the greatest scholar that ever occu- 
pied the President's chair. He was an excellent musi- 
cian, a fine horseman and hunter, and, because of his pro- 
found wisdom, was called ''the Sage of Monticello." 
While not an eloquent speaker, he wielded a master pen, 
as was proven by his authorship of the Declaration of 
Independence. He was the fouTider of the present Dem- 
ocratic party, was of simple tastes, disliked display, and 
though rich, dressed as plainly as a Quaker. Extremely 
liked by the "common people," he never lost that popu- 
larity and won the respect of political opponents as well 
as friends. He died poor in money, but rich in the loving 
respect of his countrymen. 

James Madison, bom' in Virginia in 1751, and died in 
1836, did a great deal to secure the adoption of the Con- 
stitution, and was the leader of his party until he left 
Congress in 1797. He was not a brilliant statesman, but 
he possessed intense application, was learned, had a won- 
derful memory, and it was said that when he finished 
speaking upon any subject "nothing remained to be said." 
He was simple, modest, courteous and of such spotless 
character that the striking tribute was paid to him at his 
death : "It was his rare good fortune to have a whole 
nation for his friends." 
'. James Monroe, bom in Virginia in 1758, and died in 



1 



WIIyUAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 239 

1 83 1, distinguished himself as a soldier during the Revo- 
lution under Washington, and while serving as a Min- 
ister to France secured the purchase of Louisiana. But 
for the curious incident already recorded, Monroe would 
have been chosen unanimously tx) the presidency at his 
second election. He was not a profound statesman, but 
he was careful, prudent and patriotic to the core. After 
serving his country faithfully, he, too, died on the 4th 
of July. 

John Quincy Adams, son of the second President, was 
bom in Massachusetts in 1767, and died in 1848. He 
was learned and served his country in several offices 
abroad before becoming President. It was his fortune, 
or rather misfortune, to be strongly opposed In politics 
while in office, but all opposition was purely political. 
Two years after the end of his term he was elected to 
Congress, where he labored untiringly until he was 
stricken with death while on the floor of the House. His 
great ability won for him the title of "the Old Man Elo- 
quent." The fame of this remarkable man was greater 
at his death than at any period of his life, and he was 
the recognized champion of popular rights. 

Andrew Jackson, bom in North Caroliim in 1767, and 
died in 1845, was one of our greatest Presidents. He 
fought in the Revolution when a boy and became one of 
the most successful of our military leaders. The only 
victory that amounted to anything on land in the War of 
1 8 12 was won by Jackson at New Orleans, after peace 
had been declared, but of course before the news reached 
this country. He was fiery tempered, obstinate to the fast 
degree, filled with burning patriotism, impatient of oppo- 
sition, full of intense friendships and equally intense 
hates, of dauntless personal courage, the chivalrous 
friend of woman, of pure private life, honest in every 



240 WILLIAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 

fibre of his nature, and a man whose popularity among 
his admiring countrymen will never wane. 

Martin Van Buren, bom in New York in 1782, and 
died in 1862, was so adroit a politician that he was known 
as the "Wizard." Jackson brought about Van Buren's 
election as his successor, and his administration suffered 
because of the oppressive hard times of 1837, though 
they were really the result of Jackson's imperious course. 
Van Buren was not popular, but his personal record was 
as blameless as that of those who preceded him. 

William Henry Harrison, born in Virginia in 1773, 
and died in 1841, made so brilliant a military reputation 
in the War of 181 2 that his admiring countrymen elected 
him to the Presidency. He was bluff, honest and 
straightforward, dying sio soon after his inauguration 
that he was not given time to impress his policy upon 
the country. Had he been spared to do so, he could not 
have added to the esteem in which he was already held 
by those who knew of his great services in the field. 

John Tyler was also a Virginian, bom in 1790, and 
died in 1862. Differing with the policy of the party that 
had elected him to the Vice-Presidency, he was severely 
blamed, though none doubted his conscientiousness and 
personal integrity. 

James K. Polk, of Tennessee, bom in 1795, and died 
in 1849, was President during our war with Mexico, and 
although he united the dissensions in his party, some of 
the acts of his administration weakened his popularity. 
He had proven his ability by a long term in Congress 
and by the governorship of Tennessee. He died three 
months after his retirement from office, with no charge 
affecting his honor from his most bitter political op- 
ponent. 

Zachary Taylor, "Old Rough and Ready," was an- 



WII^LIAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 241 

Other soldier whose military achievements made him 
President. He was a fine officer, who received the first 
brevet given in the American army, and was the popular 
hero of the Mexican War; but he was so little of a poli- 
tician that he had not cast a vote in forty years. Con- 
scious of his inferiority in statecraft, he selected an able 
Cabinet, but soon died, honored and respected for his 
many virtues and unsullied patriotism. 

Millard Fillmore, born in 1800, in New York, and died 
in 1874, succeeded Taylor. His industry, integrity and 
practical ability made him a safe and useful President, 
though when he signed the Fugitive Slave Law he signed 
away most of his popularity in the North. 

Franklin Pierce, born in New Hampshire in 1804, and 
died in 1869, was hardly known outside his native State, 
when, to end a prolonged contest in the national con- 
vention, he was brought forward as the "dark horse," 
who carried off the prize. So far he was the only Presi- 
dent who retained his Cabinet without change through- 
out his administration. He was not brilliant, but was 
able, honest and patriotic. 

James Buchanan, born in Pennsylvania in 1791, and 
died in 1868, was our first bachelor President, and after 
attaining manhood, seemed hardly ever to be out of pub- 
lic office, a fact which establishes his great ability. He 
showed timidity on the verge of the great Civil War, but 
the sincerity and purity of his intentions cannot be ques- 
tioned. 

Abraham Lincoln, born in Kentucky in 1809, and as- 
sassinated in 1865, stands next to Washington in the no- 
bility and true greatness of his character. Of quaint wit, 
immense good nature, unquestioned statesmanship, 
womanly tenderness of heart, a broad charity and a gen- 
ius of the highest order, he was called upon to bear the 



242 WILLIAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 

heaviest burden ever carried on the shoulders of one man. 
His was the marvelous intuition of doing the right thing 
at the right time, and when he fell by the hand of the as- 
sassin the South lost its truest friend. The fame of the 
martyr President will grow brighter as the years and cen- 
turies come and go. 

Andrew Johnson, born in North Carolina in 1808, and 
died in 1875, was so hated by the secessionists in Ten- 
nessee that a mob attempted to take him from a railway 
train and lynch him. He met them unflinchingly, re- 
volver in hand, and defied them. This proved his per- 
sonal courage, but he frittered away his popularity when 
he became President and was impeached, escaping con- 
viction by one vote. The charges against him were purely 
political, and he was stubborn and hot-headed', but sin- 
cere and honest. 

General Ulysses S. Grant, born in Ohio in 1822, and 
died in 1885, was the hero of the war for the Union, and 
one of the foremost military captains of the age. He will 
always remain enshrined in the loving gratitude of his 
countrymen, who in honoring him to the fullest extent, 
would have done still more had it been possible, for all 
felt that too much gratitude could not be shown the pa- 
triot who had saved the Union from death. 

Rutherford B. Hayes, born in Ohio in 1822, and died 
in 1893, was a gallant soldier of the Civil War, a Con^ 
gressman and Governor of his native State. Of good 
ability and excellent attainments, it is unfortunate that 
his title to the Presidency must always remain clouded. 

James A. Garfield, born in Ohio in 183 1, was the sec- 
ond martyr President, having been shot by a half-crazy 
miscreant in t88i. He displayed snch marked military 
ability in the Civil War that he was commissioned major- 
general. Jle Vv-ag wise and nrudent, frank, generous and 



WILLIAM M'KINLEY'S PREDECESSORS. 245 

unassuming, and man3'- of his most devoted friends Avere 
among his political opponents. His learning and ora- 
torical ability were of a high order, and had his life been 
spared he must have won a high rank among the illus- 
trious occupants of the White House. 

Chester A. Arthur, born in Vermont in 1830, and died 
in 1886, possessed good ability, though he cannot rank 
among our great Presid'ents. 

Grover Cleveland, born in New Jersey in 1837, proved 
his independence, self-reliance, patriotism and devotion 
to the interests of his country, which he always placed 
above party, thereby commanding the confidence and re- 
spect of the best citizens of the republic. 

Benjamin Harrison, also born in Ohio, the second 
"mother of Presidents," in 1833, was a gallant soldier in 
the war for the Union, an able lawyer and the best ofif- 
hand speaker that has ever been President. When he 
went out of office, his leading opponent said : *'His ad- 
ministration has been able, dignified, thoroughly Am.eri- 
can and untainted by the first breath of scandal." 

TTien comes William McKinley, who played his diffi- 
cult part in the Cuban trouble — a part that called for the 
highest qualities of statesmanship — and played it with 
conspicuous success ; the man who led us to take up the 
white man's burden and spread the blessings of civilized 
government and extend the bounds of freedom ; and who 
Vv'as basely shot down by a deluded anarchist. 

And finally, Theodore Roosevelt, the latest in the line 
of American Presidents. 

There is the list ! Where in the world can its equal be 
found ? 

And the whole world remains mute. 

TH^ END. 



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In the Sunk Lands. 

Frank H. Converse. 

Gold of Flat Top Mountain. 

Happy-Go-Lucky Jack. 

Heir to a Million. 

In Search of an Unknown Race. 

In Southern Seas. 

Mystery of a Diamond. 

That Treasure. 

Voyage to the Gold Coast. 

Harry Collingwood. 

Pirate Island. 

George H. Coomer. 

Boys In the Forecastle. 
Old Man of the Mountain. 

William Balton. 

Tiger Prince. 
War Tiger. 
While Elephant, 



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Brooks McCormick. 

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Walter Morris. 

Bob Porter at Lakevlew Acade- 
my. 



Stanley Norris. 

Phil, the Showman. 
Young Showman's Kivals, The. 
Young Showman's Pluck, The. 
Young Showman's Triumph, 
The. 



liieut. James K. Orton. 

Beach Boy Joe. 

Last Chance Mine. 

Secret Chart, The. 

Tom Havens with the White 
Squadron. 



James Otis. 

Chased Through Norway. 

Inland "Waterways. 

Reuben Green's Adventures at 

Yale. 
Unprovoked Mutiny, An. 
Wheeling for Fortune. 



Gilbert Patten. 

Boy Boomers. 
Boy Cattle King. 
Boy from the West. 
Don Kirk's Mine. 
Jud and Joe. 



St. George Rathborne. 

Canoe and Camp Fire. 
Chums of the Prairie. 
Gulf Cruisers, The. 
Paddling Under Palmettos. 
Rival Canoe Boys. 
Shifting Winds. 
Sunset Ranch. * 

Young Range Riders. 



Arthur Sewell. 

Gay DasWeigh'a Academy Days. 

Capt. David Soutliwlck. 

Jack Wheeler. 

Burt L. Standish. 

Frank Merriwell's Bravery. ' 
Frank Merrlwell Down South. 
Frank Merriwell's School Days. 
Frank Merriwell's Chums. 
Frank Merriwell's Foes. 



Frank Merriwell's Trip West. 



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Edward S. Ellis. 

Arthur Helmuth. 

Check Number 2184. 

From Tent to White House. 

Golden Rock. 

Land of Mystery. 

On the Trail of Geronimo. 

Perils of the Jungle. 

"White Mustang. 

George Manville Fenn. 

Commodore Junk. 
Dingo Boys. 
Golden Magnet. 
Grand Chaco. 
Weathercock. 

Ensign Clarke Fitch 

U. S. N. 

Bound for Annapolis. 
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Cruise of the Training Ship. 
From Port to Port. • 
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William Murray Gray- 
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Butcher of Cawnpore, The. 
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Campaigning with Braddock. 
Cryptogram, The. 
From Lake to Wilderness, 
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In Fort and Prison. 
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White King of Africa. The. 
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Lieut. Frederick Garri- 
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Cadet's Honor, A. 

Off for West Poiut. 

On Guard. 

West Point Treasure, A. 

West Point Rivals, The. 

Headon Hill. 

Spectre Gold. 

Henry Harrison Lewis. 

Centerboard Jim. 
Ensign Merrill. 
King of the Island. 
Midshipman Merrill. 
Sword and Pen. 
Valley of Mystery, The. 
Yankee Boys In Japan. 

Lieut. Lionel Loun»- 
berry. 

Cadet Kit Carey. 
Capt. Carey. 
Kit Carey's Protege. 
Lieut. Carey's Luck. 
Out with Commodore Decatur. 
Randy, the Pilot. 
Tom Truxton's Ocean Trip. 
Tom Truxton's School Days. 
Treasure of the Golden Crater. 
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Victor St. Clair. 


Mattliew Wliite, Jr. 


Cast Away In the Jungle. 


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Comrades Under Castro. 


Eric Dane. 


For Home and Honor. 


Guy Hammersley. 


From Switch to Lever. 


My Mysterious Fortune. 


Little Snap, the Postboy, 


Tour of a Private Car. 


Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjuror, 


Young Editor, The. 


Zip, the Acrobat. 






Gayl© Winterton. 


Arthur M. Winfield. 


Young Actor, The. 


Mark Dale's Stage Venture. 
Young Bank Clerk, The. 


Ernest A. Young. 


Young Bridge Tender, The. 


Boats, Bate and Bicycles. 



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Jessica Trent. 

Her Adventures on a Ranch. 

Jessica, tlie Heiress. 

This is Evelyn Raymond's new book, just published. 
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KATE TANNATT WOODS: 

A Fair Maid of Marblehead. 

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Walter A^mwell* 

Jerry. 
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Brave and Bold. 
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Slow and Sure. 
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Try and Trust. 

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Young Vagabond, A. 

Daniel Defoe. 

Robinson Crusoe. 

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Bidiard Dowling. 

Catmur's Cave. 

George Manville Fenn. 

In the Wilds of New Mexico. 

Blanche Willis Howard. 

Battle and a Boy, A. 

W. H. G. Kingston. 

Dick Cheveley. 

From Powder Monkey to Ad- 
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Hendricks, the Hunter. 
E Mark Seaworth's Voyage on the 
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?; Peter Trawl. 
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Shore and Ocean. 

The Midshipman, Marmaduke 
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I<eon Lewis. 

Diamond Seekers of Brazil. 
Kit Carson's Last Trail. 
Silver Ship, The. 
Young Castaways. The. 

Montlean & Wyse. 

Swiss Family Boblnsoa. 

Alfred Oldfellow. 

Joe Nichols. 
Uncle Nat. 
Way to Success. 

Oliver Optic 

All Aboard (Sequel to "Boat 

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Boat Club, The. 
Little by Little. 
Now or Never. 
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Capt. Mayne Beid* 

Boy Tar, The. 
Cliff Climber, The. 
Lone Ranch, The. 
Ran Away to Sea. 

Gordon Stables. 

Cruise of the Snowbird. 

Life at Sea. 

Wild Adventures 'Round the 

Pole. 
Young Explorer, The. 

Jeflferys Taylor. 

Boy Crusoes, The. 

A "Wolvertonian. 

Three Years at Wolverton. 

Xlrnest A. Young. 

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Jack Harkaway Library, 

An Entirely New Edition from New Plates. 
Revised and Re-edited. Handsomely Bound in Cloth. 

The author, BRACEBRIDGE HEMYNG, is conceded by 
all who know his works to be the most entertaining writer of 
stories for boys the world has ever known. He takes Jack 
and his companions on tours of adventure all over the world, 
and every line he has written about them is just teeming with 
humor, life and thrilling action. 

No better stories of adventure in school and out, on land 
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Cloth. 12mo. Price, 50 Cents each, postpaid. 



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JACK HARKAWAT AFTER SCHOOL DATS. 

JACK HARKAWAT AFLOAT AND ASHORE. 

JACK HARKAWAT AMONG THE PIRATES. 

JACK HARKAWAT AT OXFORD. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S STRUGGLES. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S TRIUMPHS. 

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JACK HARKAWAT AROUND THE WORLD. 

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JACK HARKAWAY'S PERILS. 

JACK HARKAWAT IN CHINA. 

JACK HARKAWAT AND THE RED DRAGON. 

JACK HARKAWAT IN GREECE. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S PLUCK. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S RESOLVE. 

JACK HARKAWAT IN AUSTRALIA. 

JACK HARKAWAT AND THE BUSHRANGERS. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S CONFIDEN»..E. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S DUEL. 

JACK HARKAWAT'S BATTLE WITH THE TURKS. 



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Henty^^ Series* 



With large INLAID PANEL IN THREE COLORS 
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design is done in Inks and Gold, on a fine quality of Cloth. 
These books are all by Q-. A. Henty. Illustrated. Printed 
Wrappers. 

AMONG MALAY PIRATES. A Story of Adventure and Peril. 

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE. A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. 

BOY KNIGHT, THE. A Tale of the Crusades, 

BRAVEST OK TRK BRAVE, THE. With Peterborough In Spain. 

BY ENGLAND'S AID ; or. The Freeing of the Netherlands (15S5-lfi04). 

BY PIKE AND DYKE. A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. 

BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST ; or. With Cortez in Mexico. 

BY SHEER PLUCK. A Tale of the Ashanti War. 

CAPTAIN BAYLEY'S HEIR. A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. 

CAT OF BUB.ASTES, THE. A Story of Ancient Egypt. 

CORNET OF HORSE, THE. A Tale of Marlborough's Wars. 

DRAGON AND THE RAVEN : or. The Days of King Alfred. 

FACING DEATH. A Tale of the Coal Mines. 

FINAL RECKONING, A. A Tale of Bush Life in Australia^ 

FOR NAME AND FAME ; or. Through Afghan Passes. 

FOR THE TEMPLE. A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. 

FRIENDS, THOUGH DIVIDED. A Tale of the Civil War In England. 

GOLDEN CANON, THE, A Tale of Gold Hunting in Mexico. 

IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE. A Story of Wallace and Bruce. 

IN THE REIGN OF TERROR, Adventures of a Westminster Boy. 

IN TIMES OF PERIL. A Tale of India. 

JACK ARCHER. A Tale of the Crimea. 

LION OF ST. MARK, THE. A Storv of Venice In the 14th Century. 

LION OF THE NORTH, THE. A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and Wars 

of Religion. 
LOST HEIR, THE. A Tale of Kidnapping in India. 
MAORI AND SETTLER. A Story of the New Zealand War. 
ONE OF THE 28TH. A Tale of Waterloo. 
ORANGE AND GREEN. A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. 
OUT ON THE PAMPAS. A Tale of South America. 
ST GEORGE FOR EN(iLAND. A Tale of Cressv and Poill-rs. 
STURDY AND STRONG; or, How <ieorge Andrews Made his Way. 
THROUGH THE FRAY. A Story of the Luddites Uiot.s. 
TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG. A Tale of the American Warof Independence. 
UNDER DRAKE'S FLAG. A Tale of the Snarnsl! Main 
WITH CMVE IN INDIA; or. The Beginnings of an Empire. 
WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA. A Story of the American Hvil War. 
WITH WOLFE IN CANADA; or. The Wirsniag of a Conliuent. 
YOUNG BUGLERS, THE. A Tale of the Peniupular War. 
YOU.S(i CARTHAGINIAN, THE. A Story of the Times of Hannibal. 
YOUNG COLONISTS, THE A Story of War in South Africa 
YOUNG FRANC-TIREURS. A Tale of the Franco-Prus.sian War. 
YOUNG MIDSHIPMAN, THE. A Tale of the Siege of Alexandria. 

f 

Any of the ab<yve books 'witl he sent postpaid, 
upon receipt of price^ 5o cents. 



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Girls' Popular Library* 

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LARGE TYPE. GOOD PAPER. Printed Wrappers. 
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Price, 50 Cents Each, Postpaid. 



Walter Aimwell. 

Ella. 

Jessie. 

Marcus. 

Mary D. Brine. 

Echoes Irom Story Land. 
Stories Grandma Told. 

Alice Carey. 

Clovernook Children. 
Clovernook Tales. Vol. I. 
Clovernook Tales. Vol. II. 

Bosa Nouchette Carey. 

Averll. 
Our Bessie. 

Cousin Virginia. 

Cricket's Friends, The. 

Dolls' Club, i Jo's Doll. 

The. < Katy's Christmas. 

3 Vols, in 1. 1 Patty's Pranks. 

Lewis Carroll. 

Alice's Adventures In Wonder- 
land. 
Through the Looking-Glass. 



Blarla S. Ouiniuins* 
Lamplighter, The. 

Mary A. Denison. 

Barbara's Triumphs. 
Frenchman's Ward, The. 
Guardian's Trust, The. 

Maria Edgeworth. 

Simple Susan. 

Juliana Horatia Swing. 

Flat-Iron for a Farthing, A. 

Great Emergency, A. 

Jackanapes. 

Jan of the Windmill. 

Six to Sixteen. 

We and the World. 

Julia Goddard. 

Fairy Tales In Other Lands. 

Tirglnia F. Townsend. 

Amy Deane. 

While it Was Morning. 



THE FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY, New York. 



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